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“They gathered for the second time around the 
camp-fire, and smelled the delicious odors arising 
from bacon and hot cofifee.” 

(.Page 5 ^) (The Girl Scouts’ Motor Trip.) 









THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 
MOTOR TRIP 


Bv EDITH LAVELL 


Author of 

*^The Girl Scouts at Miss Allen's School,^* “The Girl 
Scouts at Camp” “The Girl Scouts* Good Turn** 
“The Girl Scouts* Canoe Trip” “The Girl 
Scouts* Rivals'* “The Girl Scouts* Vacation 
Adventures*' “The Girl Scouts on the 
Ranch,'* 



A. L. BURT COMPANY 
Publishers New York 























A 


■' / 


THE 


GIRL SCOUTS SERIES 


A SERIES OF STORIES FOR GIRL SCOUTS 


By EDITH LAVELL 


The Girl Scouts at Miss Allen’s School 

The Girl Scouts at Camp 

The Girl Scouts* Good Turn 

The Girl Scouts* Canoe Trip 

The Girl Scouts* Rivals 

The Girl Scouts on the Ranch 

The Girl Scouts* Vacation Adventures 

The Girl Scouts* Motor Trip 


Copyright, 1924 
By A. L. BURT COMPANY 


THE GIRL SCOUTS’ MOTOR TRIP 


Made is “U. S. A.** 


A.PR-9’24 


© 


3ciA7787a5 









THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 
MOTOR TRIP 


CHAPTER 1. 

A CHALLENGE. 

Marjorie Wilkinson and Lily Andrews saun¬ 
tered down the hall of the dormitory towards their 
rooms, humming tunes and dragging their hockey 
sticks along the floor behind them. They were en¬ 
joying a particularly jubilant mood, for their team 
had just been victorious; the sophomores of Turner 
College had succeeded in defeating the juniors in a 
closely contested game of hockey. And Marjorie and 
Lily both played on the team. 

As they paused at the door of their sitting-room, 
Florence Evans, a member of the old senior patrol 
of Pansy Troop of Girls Scouts, and now a freshman 
at college, came out to meet them. She had run in 
for news of the game, and finding the girls away, 
had decided to await their return. 

3 



4 


THE GIKL SCOUTS' 


‘‘Who won?" she demanded, without any cere¬ 
mony. 

“We did!" announced Lily, triumphantly. 
“Naturally—with such a captain!" She nodded 
proudly towards Marjorie. 

“Congratulations!" cried Florence, seizing both 
girls by the hands and leading them back to the 
room. “Now—tell me all about it!" 

Marjorie had scarcely begun her account of the 
thrilling match when she was interrupted by the 
abrupt entrance of Alice Endicott, another freshman 
who had been a Girl Scout of the same troop, look¬ 
ing as if she carried the most startling news in the 
world. Naturally vivacious, her cheeks glowed and 
her eyes shone with even greater brilliancy than 
usual. The girls stopped talking instantly, aware 
that her excitement was not due to any event so 
ordinary as a hockey game. 

“Girls!" she flung out. “Guess what?" 

“What ?" they all demanded at once. 

Alice waved an open letter before their eyes. 

“The most magnificent thing has happened—" 

“To you?" interrupted Florence, who always 
wanted to be explicit. 

“To us —all of us—of the senior patrol. A plan 
for this summer!" 

“The scouts aren’t to get together again, are 
they?" cried Marjorie, jumping up and going over 


MOTOR TRIP 


5 


towards Alice, as if she wanted at a single glance to 
learn the contents of that mysterious letter. 

^^Have you found a baby, or only a boot-legger?” 
asked Lily, laughingly. “Because it’s too late to get 
our tea-house back again, after the money’s all 
spent 1” 

“Neither of those things,” replied Alice. “Only 
a rich relation.” 

“Why the ‘only’?” inquired Florence. “I think 
that’s almost enough. But tell us about it. How 
does it concern us?” 

“Just wait till you hear!” laughed Alice, turning 
to her letter again. 

“Well, do let us hear!” begged Lily, impatiently, 
“We’re waiting.” 

Alice seated herself upon the couch and paused 
a moment before she started upon her explanation, 
as if to make the situation more dramatic. At last 
she began. 

“Of course you know our family are all in modest 
circumstances, but it seems that there is this one 
wealthy relative—an elderly, maiden aunt on my 
father’s side. I have never seen her, because she 
has lived in California during all of my life, but 
naturally I had heard of her before. She never 
took any interest in us, however, and always said 
she was going to leave all of her money to her two 
nephews whom she is raising. 


6 


THE GIEL SCOUTS' 


‘Well, I hardly thought she knew of my existence, 
when suddenly, out of a clear sky, I got this letter 
from her with its thrilling proposition. She must 
have learned somewhere of the work we did last 
summer, and of our reason for doing it, and she was 
impressed. She evidently never knew any Girl 
Scouts before, or in fact any girls who were in¬ 
terested in anything so worth while as a sick mother 
or a tea-house. So, lo and behold, she writes to 
me and tells me she wants to make my acquaintance 
—and not only mine, but that of the whole patrol !’* 

“But we can't go out west, Alice!" interrupted 
Marjorie, jumping at her meaning. “We couldn’t 
possibly afford it." 

“No," added Florence, “I was thinking of look¬ 
ing for a job for the summer." 

“Wait till you hear the rest of it!" said Alice. 
“We won’t need any money. Aunt Emeline is offer¬ 
ing to pay all our expenses, if we motor to Calif or- 
niar 

“Motor!" repeated Marjorie. “We girls? By 
ourselves—?" 

“No; we may, in fact, we must have a chaperone." 

“It would be a wonderful thing to do!" exclaimed 
Florence, contrasting the pleasures of such a delight¬ 
ful excursion with the routine duties of an office 
position, such as she had planned for herself. “But 
is it possible?" 


MOTOR TRIP 


7 


“Why not?” demanded Alice. “Lots of girls 
have done it before—Fve even read accounts of their 
trips in the magazines, telling all about what to take, 
and how much it costs.” 

“But they are always older girls than we are!” ob¬ 
jected Lily. 

“Girl Scouts can do anything any other girls can 
do!” asserted Marjorie with pride. “Pm sure we 
could make the trip. Now, tell me again, please, 
Alice: just which of us are invited?” 

“All the girls who took part in last summer’s 
work at the tea-house,” replied Alice. “That means 
us four, Daisy Gravers, Ethel Todd, Marie Louise 
Harris—and—Doris and Mae if they want to.” 

“ Tf they want to’ is good 1” laughed Marjorie. 
“Imagine those two brides leaving their husbands 
for a two months’ trip!” 

“Of course you could hardly expect Mae to,” ad¬ 
mitted Alice; “she’s quite too recent a bride. But 
Doris will have been married a year.” 

“But she and Roger are just as spoony as ever!” 
interrupted Lity. “No, I’m afraid we can’t count 
on them. But the other three girls probably will.” 

“To continue,” said Alice: “you know that I told 
you my aunt is queer—a little ‘off’ we always con¬ 
sidered her. Well, she goes on to add that we must 
make the trip inside of six weeks, follow the Lincoln 
Highway, not spend more than a certain sum of 


8 


THE GIKL SCOUTS’ 


money she is depositing in my name, and—^the last 
is worst of all—” 

“What?’" demanded two or three of the scouts at 
once. 

“We are not to accept help of any men along the 
way!*' 

The girls all burst out laughing immediately at 
the absurdity of such a suggestion. Yet there was 
not one among them who doubted that she could ful¬ 
fill the conditions. 

“And what happens if we do take assistance?’* 
asked Florence, when the merriment had subsided. 
“Do we have to pay for our own trip?** 

“No, but the guilty girls have to go home,** re¬ 
plied Alice. 

“Can’t you just see us dropping one by one ‘by 
the wayside,' ** remarked Lily, “because we accept 
masculine chivalry. Really, it will be hard—** 

“Oh, we can do it!” said Marjorie, with her usual 
assurance. She put down her hockey stick and went 
over to the tea-table to make tea. The subject was 
too interesting to allow her guests to depart. 

“Tell us more,” urged Florence.' 

“The best is yet to come,” said Alice, her eyes 
sparkling with pleasure, because of the further reve¬ 
lation she was about to make. “There is a reward 
at the end!” 


MOTOR TRIP 


9 


“A reward!’^ repeated Marjorie. “As if the trip 
itself weren’t enough—” 

“Yes, this is the marvellous part. If we fulfill 
all the conditions, and reach Aunt Emeline’s house 
by midnight of August first, each girl is to receive 
a brand new runabout, for her very own!” 

“What? What?” demanded all the girls at the 
same time, unable to believe their ears. 

“Shall we accept the offer?” continued Alice. 

“Shall we?” cried Florence. “As if there were 
any doubt! She jumped up and gave Alice an 
ecstatic little squeeze. 

The other girls were just as enthusiastic, and they 
discussed the affair from every angle, while they 
drank Marjorie’s tea and nibbled at some nabiscoes 
which Lily produced from her cake box. When they 
came to the selection of a chaperone, they were all 
unanimous in their desire to have Mrs. Remington. 

“But would she leave her husband for such a long 
time?” asked Lily, doubtfully. 

“It wouldn’t be a question of leaving him,” 
answered Marjorie. “Because he has to go to some 
sort of Boy Scout camp this summer for the months 
of July and August—she told me about it in her last 
letter. So she might be very glad of the invita¬ 
tion.” 

“Then that settles that,” said Alice. “Marj, will 
you write immediately?” 


10 


THE GIKL SCOUTS’ 


“I certainly will, and I’ll write home for permis¬ 
sion for myself at the same time/* 

“Marj !** exclaimed Lily, suddenly. ‘'What about 
the Hadleys ? Didn’t you promise that you’d go to 
the seashore—?’* 

Marjorie blushed, remembering the time she had 
told John Hadley that she would spend her vaca¬ 
tion with him and his mother, and had disappointed 
him to go on the ranch. Luckily, however, no 
definite plans had been agreed upon as yet for this 
summer. 

“No, thank goodness I didn’t promise,” she re¬ 
plied. “But,” she added teasingly, “how can you 
ever exist all that time without seeing Dick 
Roberts ?” 

Her room-mate only laughed good naturedly at 
the thrust; she was used to being taunted about the 
frequency of this young man’s visits. 

“I can get along very well without any young 
man,” she replied, boastfully. “I’m not Doris—-or 
Mae Van Horn!” 

“Mae Melville, you mean,” corrected Alice, for 
they all had difficulty in calling the girl by her new 
name, of which she had been in possession only a 
month. “Wasn’t it funny,” she added, “that Mae 
caught Doris’s bouquet at the wedding, and sure 
enough was the first to get married! Just as if 


MOTOR TRIP 


11 


there were something to the old superstition after 
aiir 

*‘It was, and it wasn’t, odd,” reasoned Marjorie; 
‘'because after all it was very natural for Doris and 
Mae to be the first girls married from our patrol. 
They didn’t have so much to keep them occupied as 
we college girls have—and they had more time to 
think about such things.” 

“Implying,” remarked Florence, “that if you 
weren’t busy here, you’d be marrying John Hadley, 
and Lily, Dick Roberts, and—” 

“That will do, Flos!” remonstrated Marjorie. 
“You don’t have to apply every generalization per¬ 
sonally. But, seriously, it is a fact that college girls 
usually marry later in life than those who just stay 
at home like Doris.” 

“But Mae didn’t stay home! She had a job.” 

“Now don’t let’s have an argument on a college 
girl’s chances versus those of a business woman!” 
protested Lily. “And by the way, wasn’t it too bad 
that we couldn’t any of us be at Mae’s wedding to 
see who would catch the bride’s bouquet! We won’t 
know who will be the next victim!” 

“Maybe we’ll all be old maids,” laughed Marjorie. 
“At any rate, I don’t think any of us will be running 
off soon, since we’re all six in college. And that re¬ 
minds me, haven’t we four been mean to go on talk- 


12 


THE GIEL SCOUTS' 


ing about this marvellous proposition, and not make 
any attempt to go get Daisy'—" 

“ril go for her this instant!" volunteered Alice, 
jumping immediately to her feet. ‘'It is a shame—" 
She was off in a moment, skipping down the hall 
like a happy child. 

It was not long before she returned with Daisy 
Gravers, another Girl Scout of the patrol, and the 
subject was discussed all over again with a thorough¬ 
ness that omitted no details. The girls’ only regret 
was that Ethel Todd, a junior at Bryn Mawr, 
could not be present to hear all about it. 

‘T’ll write to her," said Alice. “Then, if we can 
all six go—and Mrs. Remington—" 

“And maybe Marie Louise," put in Daisy. 

“We’ll need several cars," concluded Lily, who 
always did things sumptuously. 

“Two ought to be enough," said Florence. “But 
say, girls, why couldn’t we leave our planning until 
Doris’s house-party? Then we’ll all be together, 
and will know definitely whether or not we can 

“But the boys will be such an interruption I" 
sighed Lily. “You can’t get a thing done with them 
around." 

“Oh, we’ll shut them out of our conferences," an¬ 
nounced Marjorie, coolly. “We must accustom our- 


MOTOR TRIP 


13 


selves to getting along without the opposite sex if we 
are to make a success of our trip/^ 

'‘And yet it is a pity/' remarked Alice, "after all 
they did for us last summer at the tea-house!" 

"Yes, maybe if it weren't for them we wouldn't 
have become famous and received this scrumptious 
invitation," surmised Daisy. 

"What I can’t understand," mused Florence, who 
had been carefully considering every aspect of the 
offer, "is why your aunt should want us to make the 
trip independent of all masculine assistance. Es¬ 
pecially when, as you say, Alice, she shows such pref¬ 
erence for her two nephews." 

"Oh, it’s just an idea of hers—a notion that she’s 
taken, I suppose,” replied Alice. "When you’re 
awfully rich and awfully old, you sometimes do 
crazy things just for the novelty of it." 

"My, what a philosopher you are!” joked Flop 
ence. "You sound as if you had been both old and 
rich!" 

"My theory," put in Marjorie, "is that it has 
something to do with the nephews. She has prob¬ 
ably boasted of our work last summer, and perhaps 
the boys belittled it. So I think this might be a 
kind of wager." 

"That sounds plausible!" exclaimed Lily. "Well, 
let’s do all in our power to make the old lady 
win.” 


14 


THE GIEL SCOUTS’ 


“And yet,” interposed Florence, “she may be on 
the other side, hoping we don’t live up to the con¬ 
ditions. It would certainly be cheaper for her if 
we fell down—” 

“Girls, I think you’re all wrong,” said Daisy. “I 
think she is just a lovely old lady, who has read 
about our work, and wants to reward us. But she 
thinks we’ll appreciate our cars more if we earn 
them, and that’s the reason she put on all these 
conditions.” 

“Come, we’re not getting anywhere!” interrupted 
Florence, “and the time’s passing.” A glance at 
her watch assured her that the supper hour was 
imminent. 

“Meet here day after tomorrow,” suggested Mar¬ 
jorie, as the girls rose to take their leave; “and try 
to have your parents’ permision by then.” 

“We’ll have it!” cried two or three of the girls. 
“We wouldn’t miss this chance for the world!” 


MOTOR TRIP 


15 


CHAPTER II. 

TOGETHER AGAIN. 

Two weeks after Alice Endicott had received her 
startling invitation to visit her aunt at the latter’s 
expense, Doris Harris sat in the living-room of her 
cozy little Philadelphia house, awaiting the arrival 
of all the girls concerned. The party was to be a 
week-end one, half of the girls staying at her house, 
and half at the home of her sister-in-law, Marie 
Louise Harris, with whom they had lived during 
the preceding summer while conducting the tea¬ 
room. 

Doris looked about the attractively furnished 
room, with its shining white paint and snowy cur¬ 
tains, its delft blue hangings and upholstery, and 
smiled contentedly to herself. It would have been 
pleasant, she thought, to go to college, along with 
the majority of the girls of the senior patrol; but it 
could not have been nearly so wonderful as to be 
married to the best man in the world, and to possess 
such a dear little home of her own. And, after all, 


18 


THE GIKL SCOUTS' 


there would always be occasions like this when she 
could manage to be with the girls again. 

She heard a light step on the porch but she did 
not put down her fancy work to go to the door, 
for she recognized it as belonging to her sister-in- 
law. The girls were so intimate that neither con¬ 
sidered stopping to ring the bell at the other’s home. 
A moment later Marie Louise opened the door. 

‘‘Anybody here yet?” she asked, crossing the room 
to give Doris her customary kiss. 

“No, not yet,” replied her hostess. “I sort of ex¬ 
pect that the five girls from Turner College will 
come together. But Ethel Todd will come by her¬ 
self.” 

Marie Louise disappeared into the dining-room 
for a minute and returned carrying a vase of roses, 
which she had arranged most artistically in a wide 
blue china bowl. She set it down upon the table, 
hardly listening to Doris’s thanks for the flowers, so 
eager was she to talk of the latest development. 

“Tell me more about this new idea—is it Alice’s 
or Marjorie’s?—I haven’t got the gist of it yet. 
Ethel Todd called me up on the telephone, but the 
connection was so poor—” 

“I really don’t know myself,” replied Doris; “ex¬ 
cept that it is a trip of some sort, and Alice’s aunt 
is paying the expenses. None of the girls wrote to 


MOTOR TRIP 


17 


me in detail, because they all assumed that I couldn’t 

“Well, you wouldn’t, would you?” 

“No, of course not,” replied Doris, laughingly. 
“I’d be too homesick. But how about you, Marie 
Louise ?” 

“Unfortunately I’ve arranged to go on studying 
all summer. You know I spoke of some such plan 
—well, I had already made my arrangements be¬ 
fore Ethel called me up. But I am crazy to see 
the girls and hear all about it. 

She seated herself upon the wide window-sill so 
that she might catch the first sight of her friends 
when they arrived. But she did not have long to 
wait; in less than ten minutes Ethel Todd put in an 
appearance. Both girls jumped up joyfully and 
hurried to the door. 

“Aren’t the others here yet?” asked Ethel, as 
soon as the greetings had subsided. 

“No, not yet,” replied Doris. “But they won’t 
be long and they’re all coming together. Now— 
come on upstairs, Ethel, and put your hat and coat 
away, for I want you to stay here. You know,” she 
explained laughingly, “I have only room enough to 
put up three of the girls, so three will have to stay 
at Marie Louise’s.” 

She led the way up the mahogany and white stair¬ 
case to the dainty little guest room at the rear of 


18 


THE GIKL SCOUTS’ 


the second story, a boudoir such as any girl would 
love, furnished in cream-colored painted furniture, 
with pink floral decorations and pink and cream cur¬ 
tains at the windows. Ethel admired it profusely. 

‘‘And did you work that bed-spread yourself?” 
she asked, examining closely the applique work in a 
flower design, upon unbleached muslin. “It’s simply 
too pretty to sleep on.” 

“Oh, it will wash!” laughed Doris. “Yes, I did 
make it myself. I love to do fancy-work.” Then, 
in the same breath, “Now tell us all about the trip. 
I’m tremendously interested.” 

“I’m afraid I don’t know a whole lot myself— 
just the bare facts that you know. But wait till 
Marj and Alice get here—they’ll tell us everything. 
By the way, is everybody coming?” 

“Everybody but Mae,” replied Doris. “You could 
hardly expect so recent a bride. In fact,” she added, 
“I didn’t even invite her. I knew it would be of no 
use.” 

“And she’s too far away—way out there in Ohio,” 
said Ethel. “I’m afraid we won’t see much of her 
any more.” 

They descended the staircase just in time to see, 
through the glass door, a taxi stop in front of the 
house. A moment later five merry, laughing girls 
jumped out of the machine and skipped up the porch 
steps. Marjorie Wilkinson, the last to enter the 


MOTOR TRIP 


house on account of the delay in paying the driver, 
decided to make up for lost time, and seized Ethel, 
Doris, and Marie Louise all at once in one inclusive 
hug. 

“We’re all here!” she cried, joyfully. “Together 
now—and together all summer! Isn’t it marvel¬ 
lous?” 

“Yes, if only Mae were here,” said Lily, who 
never could forget the absent members. 

“And if Doris and I could go with you,” sighed 
Marie Louise. 

“You can’t go?” asked Alice, her face clouding. 
“Oh, why not, Marie Louise? Are you going to 
get married too?” 

“No, indeed,” replied the other girl, laughingly. 
“But I am keeping on at art school this summer.” 

“What a shame!” cried several of the others at 
once. They were all genuinely fond of this girl who 
was the latest addition to their number. 

Without even removing their hats, the girls all 
dropped into chairs in the living-room and continued 
to talk fast and furiously about their proposed trip. 
It seemed that all of the college girls were planning 
to go; and Marjorie’s announcement of Mrs. Rem¬ 
ington’s acceptance added another cause for re¬ 
joicing. Their only regret was that their two 
hostesses and Mae Melville could not go. 

“I honestly feel sorry for you married people!’* 


20 THE GIRL SCOUTS^ 

teased Florence. ‘To think that you have to miss 
all the fun—’’ 

“But there are compensations/’ Doris reminded 
her. “Maybe we feel sorry for you I” 

“Now Doris, we won’t stand for that!” retorted 
Alice. “And anyhow—” 

“Anyhow what?” demanded the other, as Alice 
paused in the middle of her remark. 

“Anyhow some of us may have gone over to your 
side by the time we come back. I expect some of 
the girls to fall for my cousins—” 

But Marjorie put an end to their bantering by a 
call to the practical. 

“That makes seven of us to go,” she said, using 
her fingers for the calculation. “I should think 
that two machines would really be enough.” 

“Yes,” answered Alice, “because we are to travel 
light. I forgot to tell you that one of my aunt’s 
stipulations is that we wear our Girl Scout uniforms 
all the time. We can express our trunks ahead, 
packed with the clothing we want to wear after we 
get to California.” 

“Then everybody will know we’re scouts?” asked 
Florence. 

“Yes; you don’t mind, do you?” 

“I’m proud of it!” replied the other, loyally. 

“If you take a big seven passenger car,” said Lily, 


MOTOR TRIP 


21 


'Svouldn't it be possible to take my Rolls as a sec¬ 
ond ? It really runs wonderfully/* 

“It would do beautifully/* answered Marjorie; 
and all the others approved her decisoti. 

“Do we camp along the way, or do we expect to 
stop at inns and hotels ?’* asked Ethel. 

“Both/* replied Alice. “You see we have to be a 
little bit economical because Aunt Emeline is only 
allowing us a certain amount for our trip; and if we 
spend any more, even though it is our own money, 
we forfeit our reward. So we must be rather 
thrifty.** 

“I think it*s more fun to camp, anyhow,** said 
Marjorie. “Imagine Girl Scouts running to hotels 
all along the way! Though it will be nice to stop 
every once in a while and get a real bath !** 

“Oh, you’ll have to go to a hotel in the big cities,** 
put in Doris, who took as much interest in the affair 
as if she were going herself. 

“The funniest thing is going to be refusing any 
help from men we happen to meet along the road,** 
remarked Daisy. “I’m afraid some of them may 
think we*re terribly rude.** 

“And suppose we get in such a tight place we sim¬ 
ply can’t get out,** suggested Ethel. “What are we 
to do?’^ 

“Walk miles to a garage, or trust to some women 
tourists to give us a lift,** answered Marjorie, firmly. 


22 


THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 


‘Trust us! Girl Scouts don't give up easily." 

“But remember," put in Daisy, who was still a 
little dubious as to the success of the undertaking, 
“that we always had our own Boy Scouts to help us 
before. And now we’ll be miles away!" she sighed 
regretfully. 

“We wouldn’t call on them if they were right be¬ 
hind us!" asserted Marjorie. “Oh, it’s going to be 
great fun—so much more than if we were all 
wealthy, and could just take the trip as we pleased, 
without any terms being dictated! It means that 
we’ve got one more chance to show what Girl Scouts 
can do!" 

“Well, your aunt certainly must be a queer one 
to think up all these conditions," observed Doris. 

“Oh, she hasn’t much to do," said Alice, “except 
to think about those two nephews who are her heirs. 
I guess we’ve given her a new interest." 

“What does she look like?" asked Florence. 

“I don’t know; the only picture we have is one 
of those old-fashioned things in a family album. 
She was eighteen then, and looked thirty-eight. 
You know the kind that I mean. But I have always 
imagined that she resembled that fake lieutenant 
those boys we met on the train fixed up for our 
benefit the summer we went on the ranch." 

“Speaking of boys," interrupted Doris, “they will 
soon be here. And you girls won’t even have your 


MOTOR TRIP 


23 


hats off—let alone be dressed. Don’t you think we 
had better adjourn to our rooms, especially the girls 
who have to go over to Marie Louise’s ?” 

'‘Right you are, Doris!” exclaimed all of her 
guests, hastening to carry out her suggestion. 

But if Doris thought that the presence of the 
boys at dinner that evening would put a damper 
upon the discussion of the project, she was mistaken. 
The boys, among whom were Jack Wilkinson, John 
Hadley, and Dick Roberts—all intimate friends of 
the girls—already knew something of the plans and 
showed their interest by a succession of questions. 
John and Dick both looked anything but pleased. 

"Why couldn’t you do something in Philadel¬ 
phia?” asked Dick, sulkily. "We had such a bully 
time last summer!” 

"Why don’t you take a motor trip to the coast ?’' 
returned Florence. "Last year we came to you— 
this year you come with us! Turn about is fair 
play!” 

"Don’t suggest it!” protested Alice, alarmed at 
the very mention of such a thing. "We’d never earn 
our cars with the boys following in our trail.” 

"People!” exclaimed Marjorie, suddenly struck 
by an inspiration. "J know something fine * It has 
just occurred to me that Mae lives in a town on the 
i.incoln Highway—the way we will undoubtedly go 
to the coast. And she has urged us all to visit her 


24 


THE GIKL SCOUTS^ 


—so couldn’t we stop on our way out, and maybe 
you boys join us for a week end?” 

‘‘Where does she live?” asked Jack, doubtfully. 
He was not sure of being able to get away from the 
office whenever he desired. 

“Lima—in Ohio,” replied Doris. “It isn’t awfully 
far.” 

“But would it be right for a big crowd like this to 
descend upon her all at once?” inquired Daisy. 

“Mae wouldn’t mind,” Doris hastened to assure 
her. “You know she has a rather large house—and 
two servants—for Tom Melville has plenty of this 
world’s goods. In fact, I think she may be a little 
lonely, and would be overjoyed to see you.” 

“Then that settles it!” cried Marjorie. “I’ll write 
tomorrow and invite ourselves.” 

“But how do you know when to set the date for?” 
asked Florence. 

“We’ll have to work it all out by mathematics,” 
replied the latter. “There’s a lot of planning to be 
done, and equipment to be bought. We’ll have to 
name a committee.” 

“I propose you as chairman,” said Lily, imme¬ 
diately. “Because you’re our lieutenant—and you 
can pick your own committee.” 

“I second that motion!” exclaimed Ethel. 

Just at this point Marjorie’s brother commenced 


MOTOR TRIP 


25 


to chuckle to himself, as if he were enjoying some 
private joke. 

*‘Tell us, Jack, so we can have some fun,’" sug¬ 
gested Ethel. 

^’Oh, it’s nothing!” replied Jack. ‘‘Only—well, I 
don’t want to be a kill-joy, or anything like that, 
you know; but I just couldn’t help but think how 
funny it would be if somebody were playing a prac¬ 
tical joke on you all.” 

“What do you mean?” demanded Marjorie. 

“Why, suppose you went ahead and made all your 
plans and bought a lot of things, and then found 
out in the end that the letter was all a joke—” 

“You mean that you don’t believe that I have an 
Aunt Emeline?” interrupted Alice. 

“No, not that. With due respect to your aunt, 
you must admit it’s a mighty unusual proposal for 
her to make to a bunch of girls she never saw, no 
matter if she is as rich as all get out. The proposi¬ 
tion’s wild enough, but the idea of her giving each 
girl a runabout as a reward if she wins through— 
that’s what gets me.” 

“Anyone rich enough and crazy enough to pay 
our expenses would be crazy enough to do any¬ 
thing,” said Alice. 

“And she probably doesn’t expect us to win,” put 
in Florence. 

“Well, I’d wait till I saw a check for those ex- 


26 


THE GIEL SCOUTS' 


penses, if I were you; then, if it turned out to be a 
joke, you wouldn't be so much out of pocket. That's 
what I mean!" 

“Silly! As if we haven't thought of those 
things!" exclaimed his sister. “I've been pinching 
myself every day, expecting to wake up from a 
dream—until Alice wrote a letter saying we could 
go, and then received that check by return mail. 
Thing up some other excuse to keep us home, 
Jackie; that one won't work." 

“You needn't worry about the money, Jack,” ex¬ 
plained Alice. “It's safely deposited in bank to my 
account!" 

“Well, anyway,” Jack replied, “I object to this 
party's being turned into a business meeting. Let's 
forget it—and dance!" 

“Jack is right,” agreed Doris. Then, turning to 
her husband, “Put on a record, Roger, and let's be¬ 
gin.” 

The remainder of the evening passed entirely to 
the boys' satisfaction. 


MOTOK TEIP 


27 


CHAPTER III. 

PLANNING THE TRIP. 

If talking about the summer’s excursion could 
have hastened the date of the event, the weeks would 
have passed in rapid succession, for the Girl Scouts 
never grew tired of discussing its every aspect. 
Whenever two or three of them were together the 
conversation drifted inevitably to this one all im¬ 
portant topic; at other times, when lessons were put 
aside for the evening or a Sunday afternoon offered 
an opportunity for rest, the five scouts would gather 
together in Marjorie’s sitting-room to talk of their 
plans. Sometimes they would discuss the country 
through which they were to motor, and read descrip¬ 
tions from books about the scenery; at other times 
they would be concerned with the actual problems 
of the trip; but invariably they would end up with 
the contemplation of their reward, giving expression 
to their dreams of owning motor cars of their own. 
To the poorer girls the idea was too entrancing ever 
to lose its novelty; Florence and Daisy would talk 
for hours of the trips they meant to take, the people 


28 


THE GIEL SCOUTS' 


they would invite to go riding with them, the pleas¬ 
ure and the service they intended to give. Had it 
not been for these hours of happy anticipation the 
time would have seemed to pass slowly; all of the 
girls—even Marjorie, who was usually too busy to 
be bored—^grew impatient of the months that in¬ 
tervened. 

But at last the college term neared its close, and 
the scouts began to make definite preparations for 
their excursion. Marjorie selected her committee 
and planned to buy the equipment in Philadelphia, 
a week or so before the time to start. 

She had commissioned John Hadley to order the 
other automobile—a seven passenger touring car— 
and had thereby won an invitation for herself and 
Alice and Lily (the other two members of her com¬ 
mittee) to stay with Mrs. Hadley while they were 
in Philadelphia. Recalling the pleasure and the 
convenience of a similar visit the preceding summer, 
when she was buying equipment for the tea-room, 
she accepted the invitation gratefully for herself and 
her companions. 

“Fm so glad Fm a member of this committee,’' 
remarked Lily as their train pulled into Philadel¬ 
phia; ‘‘so that we will have this week together. For 
I think it is going to be lots of fun.” 

“If it’s anything like last year it will,” returned 
Marjorie. 


MOTOR TRIP 


29 


“Ah, but remember that we had the boys then to 
make things lively,'' observed Alice. 

“Well, we have them now. Aren't we staying at 
John's home—and isn't my brother Jack working 
right here in Philadelphia—and ready to help us at 
any minute? And—" Marjorie glanced slyly at 
Lily—dare say Lil might be able to locate Dick 
Roberts if we needed him!" 

“It's time to get our gloves on!" was all the reply 
her jest drew from Lily. “We're slowing up al¬ 
ready." 

Five minutes later the girls were seated in John 
Hadley's Ford, driving through the city to the 
suburbs where his mother's home was located. Mar¬ 
jorie as usual was in high spirits, but again John ex¬ 
perienced that intangible sensation of jealousy be¬ 
cause her happiness seemed to be caused rather by 
her bright expectations than by his mere presence. 
While she was asking him about the new car, he 
suddenly sighed audibly; somehow he felt that as 
long as the Girl Scouts continued to plan these novel 
undertakings, he would never hold anything but sec¬ 
ond place in Marjorie's interest. The girl noticed 
the sigh, and asked him whether she were boring 
him. 

“Of course not!" he declared emphatically. “As 
if you ever could—" 

“Then what is it?" she asked sympathetically. 


30 


THE GIKL SCOUTS’ 


“Only that I wish that I were a Girl Scout—to 
merit more of your attention.” 

Marjorie laughed merrily; she did not believe 
that the young man was in earnest. 

“You didn’t answer my question,” she persisted. 
“Has the car come yet?” 

“Yes; it’s in our garage.” 

“Oh, goody! Drive fast then, John. It seems 
as if I can’t wait a minute to see it I” 

Obedient to her command he put on all his power, 
in defiance of the speed laws in the city, and reached 
home in an incredibly short time for a Ford. Mar¬ 
jorie waited only to pay her respects to Mrs. Had¬ 
ley; then without even removing her hat, she fol¬ 
lowed John’s machine out to the garage. There 
she found the new possession, shining and bright 
and handsome with its fresh paint and polished 
metal. 

“Let’s get in and drive it immediately!” she 
cried. “I think it’s the most beautiful car I ever 
saw!” 

“Not the most beautiful,” corrected Lily. “At 
least I wouldn’t admit it could compare with my 
Rolls-Royce— 

“Or my Ford!” put in John, and the girls all 
laughed. 

“It will be great to drive into town every day to 


MOTOR TRIP 31 

do our shopping/^ remarked Alice. ‘‘Won’t we feel 
grand—?” 

“I’m afraid that won’t be very satisfactory,” said 
John. “On account of the parking rules. You can’t 
leave a machine alone, you know; you would have to 
put in into a garage.” 

“We can easily do that,” remarked Alice, airily. 
“Money is scarcely a consideration with us now!” 

“Doesn’t that sound fine?” laughed Marjorie. “I 
guess it’s the first time in our lives that we were 
ever able to say that.” 

“And probably the last time,” added Lily. “Unless 
some of us marry those rich heirs of your aunt, 
Alice!” 

John glanced up apprehensively at this sugges¬ 
tion. 

“What’s this about rich heirs?” he asked, with so 
much concern that all three of the girls burst into 
laughter. 

“You’ll probably never see Marjorie again!” 
teased Alice. “When we meet these two cousins of 
mine who are destined to inherit all of Aunt 
Emeline’s money, Marj will just fall for them. And 
of course they’ll fall for her!” 

“Oh, of course!” said Marjorie, sarcastically. 

“Maybe some of us fellows had better take the 
trip in my tin Lizzie after all,” observed John. 

“Nothing doing!” protested Marjorie, em- 


32 


THE GIEL SCOUTS' 


phatically. “We'd be sure to break our rule not to 
accept help from men along the way. And then we'd 
forfeit our trip, and our reward at the end, too.'’ 

“Well, I hope you don’t have any accidents along 
the way,” said John. “Though I do hate to think 
of you girls all by yourselves, so far away!” 

“Oh, you needn’t worry,” Alice reassured him. 
“Don’t forget we’re not just ordinary girls. We’re 
Girl Scouts!” 

By dint of much persuasion, Marjorie was in¬ 
duced to leave the garage and go into the house. 
Here she found new sources of interest; Mrs. Had¬ 
ley had collected catalogues of sporting goods and 
books of advice upon motoring and crossing the 
country, and had piled them all upon the table in the 
living-room. The girls literally dived for them as 
soon as they realized what they were. 

“Of course we’ll need tents,” said Marjorie, turn¬ 
ing immediately to the fascinating displays that 
were shown by the various dealers represented in 
the catalogues. 

“And look at these cunning little folding stoves I” 
cried Lily, pointing to an illustration that captured 
her eye. 

“Don’t forget dishes!” put in Alice. “They ought 
to be tin or aluminum—” 

“You better carry a revolver apiece,” cautioned 
John. 


MOTOR TRIP 


33 


“I don’t know about that,” remarked his mother. 
“The books and articles that I have read on the sub¬ 
ject say that it is not necessary to carry that sort of 
protection. There is usually an unfailing courtesy to 
be found along the road, particularly in the west.” 

“But we have to go through the east to get to the 
west,” sighed Lily; “and it will be just our luck to 
encounter all sorts of obstacles—ghosts, or boot¬ 
leggers, or bandits—^just because we want so des¬ 
perately to get there safely.” 

“But that only makes it so much more fun!” re¬ 
turned Marjorie. 

“Yes, I know you love danger, Marj. But one 
day you’ll love it too much. Sometimes it seems as 
if you almost court difficulties.” 

“Still, we always gain by them in the end!” she re¬ 
plied, triumphantly. 

“I’m more concerned about the little troubles— 
something going wrong with the car, for instance,” 
said Alice. “And I’m so afraid we’ll some of us be 
weak, and accept help, and—” 

“And be sent home like bad children!” supplied 
Marjorie. 

“Wouldn’t it be funny,” observed John, “if you 
would come home one by one until only Alice was 
left to return the car to her aunt! I’m afraid that 
I would just have to laugh!” 

“Well, if you did, you never need come around us 


34 


THE GIRL SCOUTS' 


again!’' snapped Marjorie. '‘Girl Scouts wouldn't 
want to see you—” 

“Then I promise to shed tears!” interrupted the 
young man, hastily. 

“However, nothing like that is going to happen,” 
said Marjorie, conclusively. “We’re going across 
the continent with flying colors, as all Girl Scouts 
could, if they had the chance. It’s the opportunity 
of a life-time!” 

The girls turned again to their catalogues, and 
made long lists of articles, stopping every few 
minutes to discuss flash-lights, spare-tires, khaki 
breeches, in fact anything that came into their minds 
or to their notice. Alice’s aunt had told them that 
she would stand the expenditures for the equip¬ 
ment, and they were only afraid that they would 
buy more than they could comfortably carry. 

Nor did this danger grow any less during the 
next few days when they actually beheld the things 
themselves in the stores. Alice and Lily both wanted 
to spend lavishly; it was Marjorie who laid the 
restraining hand upon them. 

At the end of three days their purchasing was 
completed; there yet remained the more difficult 
task of mapping out the trip. Authorities seemed 
generally to recommend the Lincoln Highway as a 
good route across the continent, so the girls were 
glad that their benefactor had stipulated this road. 


MOTOR TRIP 


35 


They planned to start from Philadelphia on the 
fifteenth of June, aiming to reach their destination 
by the first of August. 

"'Provided we travelled one hundred miles a day, 
which really is not a tiring distance, we ought to be 
able to make the trip in thirty days,^^ Marjorie esti¬ 
mated. "And that will give us fifteen days sur¬ 
plus.” 

"We can surely aflFord three days at Mae's,” 
announced Lily. "And perhaps we could visit some 
other school or college friends along the way.” 

But Marjorie shook her head decidedly. 

‘"No,” she said; ""I am willing to visit Mae, but 
nobody else. We shall need every one of those 
twelve remaining days. Suppose we have to stop 
for repairs, or get lost, or are held up by a bad 
storm—” 

"That will do. Calamity Jane!” exclaimed Alice, 
putting her hand over Marjorie's mouth. "We don’t 
expect any misfortunes at all!” 

"No, we don't expect them, but we don’t want to 
lose our cars just because we didn't allow enough 
time.” 

"Marj!” exclaimed John, suddenly. "I have it! 
If you get in trouble, wire for us, and we’ll put on 
skirts! We used that disguise effectively last year 
—why not now ?” 

The girl gazed at him mournfully. 


3G 


THE GIKL SCOUTS' 


‘Too bad, John, but it couldn't be done! Unfor¬ 
tunately we'll be on our honor now, and we'd know 
you were boys. Unless—" she smiled at the idea— 
“unless you were clever enough to deceive us!" 

“Nobody's clever enough to deceive you, Mar¬ 
jorie! Not that I want to, but—" 

“Speaking of deception," interrupted Alice, “I 
have been wondering how my aunt is going to be 
sure that we do live up to her conditions. She 
doesn't know us, or anything about our characters." 

“Maybe she wrote to college for references," 
suggested Marjorie. “Or maybe she knows the high 
standards of all Girl Scouts." 

“Let us hope so!" said John. “But perhaps she 
knows about Alice, and judges you all from her." 

“Anyhow," concluded Marjorie, “we'll send her a 
detailed plan of our trip, so she can check us up if 
she wants to. Then we'll go ahead, with the motto 
of ‘do or die'!" 


MOTOR TRIP 


37 


CHAPTER IV. 

THE MYSTERIOUS CAR. 

The night before the party was to start upon the 
excursion, the rest of the girls arrrived at Mrs. Had- 
ley’s. Their hostess had insisted upon entertaining 
them all at her house, and had prepared a dinner 
worthy of the occasion. With the exception of her 
son John, none of the boys was invited until later 
in the evening. 

As soon as the others—including Daisy Gravers, 
Florence Evans, Ethel Todd, and Mrs. Remington 
—put in an appearance, Marjorie led them out to 
examine the new car. Lily’s, too, was there, all 
ready for the journey, in the best of shape, both 
inside and out. 

‘Tt just seems as if nothing could go wrong,’' 
said Mrs. Remington, as the party turned back into 
the house. “The cars are in A Number One con¬ 
dition. Now, how about the drivers ?” 

“We three have beeen driving all week,” replied 
Alice; “so we’re quite experienced by now. And 
you’ll find both cars easy to manage.” 


38 


THE GIEL SCOUTS^ 


^‘How much equipment have you bought?’* con¬ 
tinued Mrs. Remington. 

Marjorie opened up the rear of the cars where 
most of the things had been packed in readiness 
for the morrow, and displayed their purchases, talk¬ 
ing enthusiastically on their merits until the dinner 
bell summoned them into the dining-room. Then 
she began on the trip, and mapped it out to the 
new-comers as she and her committee had planned 
it. 

‘It certainly sounds wonderful,*’ remarked Flor¬ 
ence Evans. “But I wonder how nearly we shall 
follow your schedule.” 

“Why shouldn’t we?” asked Marjorie. “What do 
you mean, Flos?” 

“Nothing special—only I have a presentment 
that things aren’t going so smoothly as you have 
planned.” 

“Oh, nonsense!” laughed Alice, lightly. “Don’t 
be pessimistic. Besides we have twelve extra days, 
not counting the three we expect to spend at Mae’s, 
in case we are delayed by storms and flat tires.” 

“I dare say we’ll need them,” concluded Florence, 
determined to have the last word. 

The boys too showed the same spirit of doubt. 
One and all they announced that they did not believe 
the scouts could make the trip on scheduled tirr.e. 
Perhaps this was because they hated to admit their 


MOTOR TRIP 


39 


ability to get along without masculine assistance, 
and perhaps it was because they did not want the 
girls to go. It was Jack who finally came forth with 
a suggestion. 

“Why not show your good sense, Sis,^' he began, 
addressing Marjorie, although he meant his remarks 
for all the scouts, “and give the thing up! Really, 
it’s wild; you’ll tire yourselves all out, and won’t wia 
your reward in the end—or anything else for that 
matter. It was lots more fun to have you running 
a tea-room, and hunting spooks. Why not do that 
again, and buy your own cars with the proceeds?” 

“But we’d never have the good fortune to find 
another haunted house,” returned Marjorie. “And 
think how dull it would be without the spooks!” 

“Good fortune?” repeated Lily. “Dull without 
them! Now, Marj, you know it kept us in a con¬ 
stant torment. No, thanks; I for one prefer the calm 
of a motor trip.” 

“Wait till you’ve had your motor trip,” said Jack, 
significantly. “Then maybe you can talk more about 
the calm of it. From what I hear, it’s anything but 
calm.” 

“But think of the reward!” Marjorie reminded 
him. 

“You mean meeting those cousins of Alice?” 
asked John, jealously. 

“Mercy no! I mean the motor-cars we’re to get. 


40 


THE GIKL SCOUTS^ 


and the fun of seeing California, and the chance to 
be together as Girl Scouts—when we’re so nearly 
grown-up.” 

“But we’re not going to act grown-up this sum¬ 
mer,” protested Alice. “Except where strangers are 
concerned. We’re just going to be the same Girl 
Scouts of dear old Pansy Troop—” 

“Who don’t care about meeting wealthy young 
men or—” began Dick, but he was 'stopped by a 
protest from Marjorie. 

“Enough of that!” she commanded. “The time is 
too short to waste. We must plan our visit to Mae’s. 
Now tell me which of you boys are expecting to 

As it was a subject in which the boys and girls 
alike were interested, for they were all hoping to go, 
they were willing to discuss it as long as the party 
lasted. Their conversation, however, was cut short; 
at ten o’clock Mrs. Hadley served light refreshments 
and informed the boys that they were expected to 
leave immediately afterward, to allow the girls to 
get some rest for their early start in the morn¬ 
ing. 

It seemed indeed a good omen that the following 
day was bright and clear, and the scouts, true to 
their resolution, arose early and made their final 
preparations. They lingered awhile over breakfast, 
making a hearty meal of it, so that they would be 


MOTOR TRIP 


41 


satisfied at noon with a light luncheon. They kept 
rehearsing their program for the day, and talking 
over their schedule as to drivers and stops and 
mileage. Marjorie reminded Lily to turn her speedo¬ 
meter back to zero, because, as she said, they wanted 
to be very exact about their trip. 

‘‘We must never be willing to turn in at night,"' 
she added, “unless we have covered our one hun¬ 
dred miles.” 

“And yet,” put in Lily, “you decided that we 
wouldn’t travel at night! Now how can you make 
those two rules consistent?” 

Marjorie smiled good-naturedly at the other girl’s 
logic, admitting that perhaps she had been a trifle 
inconsistent. 

“It’s ten minutes to eight,” interrupted Florence; 
“don’t you girls think we had better start?” 

“No,” replied Marjorie, thoughtfully. “It would 
never do to start at ten minutes of the hour. Let’s 
leave on the very stroke of eight.” 

“Then we ought to get our hats on and be all 
ready—and give Mrs. Hadley her good-bye kisses.” 

“And don’t forget mine!” added John, hope¬ 
fully. 

They were off at last, Marjorie at the wheel of 
the big car, and Lily in the driver’s seat of her 
own, directing their course through the Park. Here 
they followed the Wissahickon, past all the spots 


43 


I THE GIBE SCOUTS’ 


where Marjorie had looked so eagerly for a loca¬ 
tion for the tea-room the year before; and as they 
saw it in all its natural loveliness more than one girl 
experienced a passing sensation of homesickness at 
the thought of leaving so much beauty behind. 

But by the time they left the Park at the City Line, 
and climbed the long steep hill over the river, the 
joy of travelling, the lure of the open road had taken 
hold of them, and made them anxious to press on. 
Both machines took the sharp incline on high, and 
sped on to the succeeding hills; then, when they came 
to the church at the cross-roads, where they met the 
Lincoln Highway, both drivers stopped for a 
minute. 

“Here is the red, white, and blue mark!"' cried 
Marjorie. “The mark that we’ll be looking for all 
the way out to the coast.” 

“Here’s hoping we never miss it!” exclaimed 
Alice, fervently. 

“Shall I continue to lead?” asked Marjorie, turn¬ 
ing to Lily. 

“Yes, yes, go on,” urged the other. “The large 
car ought to go first.” 

“That it can see that all is well for the little one!’" 
explained Daisy. 

Marjorie released her brakes, and again both cars 
made a start. They were on a beautiful road now,. 


MOTOR TRIP 


43 


shaded by tall trees, and lined with imposing dwell¬ 
ings. 

‘Tf it’s all like this, the trip will be more than de¬ 
lightful!” exclaimed Alice, as she shifted her gaze 
from one side of the road to the other, in admira¬ 
tion of the beautiful lawns and lovely houses. “Why, 
I’d be satisfied with one of the lodge-keepers’ houses 
to live in!” 

“Well, Fm afraid it’s not all quite so nice as this,” 
replied Marjorie. “You know Pennsylvania is one 
of the states that is noted for its wonderful scenery.” 

“That reminds me,” said Daisy, “don’t we pass 
throughThe town where Ethel’s college is located?” 

“Bryn Mawr? I should say we do. You know 
the town is called by the same name. It’s right after 
we pass through Haverford—” 

“Where the men’s college is?” inquired Alice. 

“Yes; the Quaker college. We’ll keep a watch out 
for it.” 

The girls were reducing their speed now in com¬ 
pliance with the fifteen miles an hour regulation en¬ 
forced in the towns, and they found ample oppor¬ 
tunity to look about them. It was no wonder, there¬ 
fore, as they were just about to enter the most con¬ 
gested part of Haverford, that they noticed a small, 
bright red racing car flash by them at a prohibitive 
pace. 

“I wonder what their hurry is,” remarked Mar- 


44 


THE GIKL SCOUTS^ 


jorie. “I noticed that car behind us quite a while 
ago.” 

“Maybe they are college students,” said Alice, 
“out for a joy ride. They looked young.” 

“My gracious, Alice, did you even notice their 
ages,” teased Florence. Then, turning to their 
chaperone, “Mrs. Remington, I see you will have to 
keep your eye on this young lady during the trip.” 

“Now, Flos, that isn't fair!” protested the accused. 
“You know there was something unusual—likely to 
attract attention—about that car. You girls prob¬ 
ably all noticed it, and most of you would look at 
the young men too, if you got the chance!” 

“Guilty!” admitted Marjorie, in self-accusation. 

“Well, it serves them right if they get arrested,” 
said Alice. “I only hope they don't have any acci¬ 
dents.” 

She spoke lightly, and yet she could not dismiss 
the young men from her mind. They really were 
very striking looking—almost distinguished—^and 
they had looked at the girls as they passed them. 
Indeed it seemed to Alice that they had given her in 
particular an especial amount of attention. 

By the time they had been riding for an hour or 
two longer, and had seen hundreds of machines, 
Alice had almost forgotten them, and probably 
would never have thought of them again, except for 
an incident which occurred while the girls were eat- 


MOTOR TRIP 


45 


mg lunch. They drew up in front of a little tea¬ 
room, and were just preparing to get out when 
Alice caught a glimpse of a bright red car, coming 
from the opposite direction. She grasped Marjorie’s 
arm. 

“Look, Marj! That must be our friends!” she 
exclaimed. 

“What friends?” demanded Marjorie, who had 
totally forgotten the incident of the morning. 

“Why, the young men you people teased me 
about. Don’t you remember?” 

The car was in full sight now, and was slowing 
down in front of the tea-room. It was evident that 
Alice’s surmise was correct. 

“They’re coming’in’here to lunch, too!” whispered 
Marjorie. “I believe you did make a hit, Alice 1” 

But Alice shook her head. 

“No, Marj; I have another idea.” 

“What?” 

“I’ll tell you after lunch. Only—^watch them!” 

“You sound mysterious! What—?” 

“Sh! I’ll explain later.” 

The scouts were no sooner seated at two tables by 
the window than the young men entered with an air 
of unconcern. Without apparently noticing the 
girls, they selected a place on the opposite side of 
the room. While the girls gave their prder, and 
later when they were eating their luncheon, they 


4G 


THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 


ventured now and then a casual glance at their 
neighbors; but never once did they catch the young 
men looking at them. 

“I wonder which one of you is the attraction,” 
muttered Lily, looking around the party. 

‘‘Notice she says ‘you' and not ‘usM” remarked 
Florence. “Of course you consider yourself out of 
it, Lil! But remember, they don't know you've al¬ 
ready found the ‘one and only man'.'' 

. “Nonsense, Flos! You talk as if I were engaged 
—and I'm far from it. But I don't think I am the 
attraction.” 

“Well, I hope not. And I hope it isn't Marj, 
either, for they'd be sadly disappointed after they 
found out about John Hadley.” 

“Girls,” put in Marjorie. “You better be careful 
about what you say. Let's save our discussion till 
we get out of here.” 

In accordance with her wish, Alice let the matter 
drop until they were on their way again. Then 
she expounded her theory. 

“Girls,” she began very solemnly, in a tone loud 
enough for the other occupants of the large car to 
hear, “I think I know who our mysterious friends 
are—and what they are doing!” 

“Who? What?” demanded Marjorie and Florence 
at once. 

“Are they boot-leggers ?” asked Daisy, with an in- 


MOTOR TRIP 


47 


voluntary shudder at the idea of meeting with 
trouble again. 

‘"No,” replied Alice. “Hasn’t anybody guessed ' 
it?” 

“No! No!” said Marjorie. “Do tell us, Alice!” 

“Fll wager Ethel has guessed,” said Alice, enjoy¬ 
ing their curiosity. “She has such a good detective 
mind.” 

“But Marj has too, and she doesn’t know what 
you’re talking about, said Florence. “So you might 
as well take us out of our agony!” 

Alice made her statement slowly: “/ think those 
two young men are my cousins, sent by my Aunt 
Emeline to spy on us, and see whether we fulfill 
all our conditions!” 

The girls simply gasped at the novelty of the 
idea; involuntarily Marjorie slowed the car so that 
they could talk more easily. 

“But why would they make themselves so obvi¬ 
ous? she asked. “Spies usually work in secret—” 

“No, Aunt Emeline wouldn’t stoop to that sort 
of thing,” replied Alice. 

“Do you know your cousins names, Alice?” asked 
Daisy. 

“Yes: Milton and Vaughn Crowell.” 

“Not the same last name as your aunt?” 

“No, Aunt Emeline is a Miss Vaughn. The 


48 


THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 


younger nephew took his mother’s maiden name 
for a first name.” 

‘‘Have you ever seen their pictures?” asked Flor¬ 
ence. 

“No, never.” 

“Then how shall we know whether you are 
right?” 

“We can’t know—^till we get to California.” 

“Oh, I simply can’t wait all that time,” said Mar¬ 
jorie, impatiently. “Let’s make a vow that if they 
pass us once more, we’ll lay a trap for them to dis¬ 
cover their identity.” 

“All right. But how?” 

“We’ll think of something later. Somebody will 
probably get an inspiration.” 

“But do wait, girls, and be sure,” urged Mrs. 
Remington. “After all, the chances are small—” 

“Only that my aunt knows our exact route—and 
—well—she seems to be that sort of person.” 

Late that afternoon when their speedometers regis¬ 
tered the required hundred miles, and the girls had 
stopped at an attractive spot for their camp, the 
bright red car with its two young occupants passed 
by them twice. But on neither occasion did the 
young men make any attempt to establish an ac¬ 
quaintanceship. 


MOTOR TRIP 


4& 


CHAPTER V. 

FLAT TIRES. 

When the bright red car passed the girls for the 
second time since their encampment, they one and 
all stopped eating to watch it until it was out of 
sight. Alice Endicott was the first to speak. 

‘‘Now do you believe me?’’ she challenged. 

“Believe that they are your cousins, just because 
we have passed them four times?” asked Marjorie, 
skeptically. 

''They have passed us/* corrected the other; “not 
we them. Doesn’t it look to you as if we were being^ 
spied on?” 

“No, it doesn’t,” returned Marjorie. “If it isn’t 
coincidence, it is because they admire our looks!” 

“But it’s too often to be coincidence,” persisted 
Alice. 

“No it isn’t either! Once Lily and I were going 
somewhere for luncheon—a place in the country, 
where we had to inquire our way—and do you know 
we went back and forth past one miserable little 


50 


THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 


house four times, just following mistaken direc¬ 
tion 

‘‘And did you finally get there?'' inquired Daisy. 

“Need you ask?" flashed Lily. “Aren't we Girl 
Scouts ?" 

“Well, these young men don't look to me like 
the sort who get lost," said Alice. “What do you 
think, Mrs. Remington ?" 

“I think it's because I am chaperoning an exceed¬ 
ingly attractive party of girls!” replied their leader. 

“You flatterer!'’ laughed Marjorie. “Well, all 
we can do is wait and see. Probably they'll never 
turn up again." 

“But if Mrs. Remington is right, and they like 
our looks," reasoned Lily, “they are probably watch¬ 
ing for some chance to make our acquaintance, and 
we’ll see them again.” 

“On the contrary, have you noticed that they 
haven't made any attempt to talk to us!'’ Alice re¬ 
minded them. “Even in the tea-room, . . . How¬ 
ever, if they ever do, let's make a violent effort to 
get hold of their visiting cards, to see whether they 
are my cousins." 

“I'll agree to that," said Marjorie, “if you'll all 
agree to turn in early. I’m dead, myself!” 

The scouts needed no persuading, and as soon as 
the twilight had faded they made their preparations 
for the night. Nor did the problem of the young 


MOTOR TRIP 


51 


men in their possible pursuit disturb their dreams; 
they all slept soundly until the sun came up. Mar¬ 
jorie was the first to awake. 

“Me for a swim!’’ she cried, after she had suc¬ 
ceeded in arousing the other girls. “Lil, where did 
you put my suit ?’' 

“All the way in the bottom of the bag, I'm afraid,'^ 
came the sleepy reply. “Why not wait till tomor¬ 
row, Marj ?" 

“And there may be no stream near!" returned 
the other. “No indeed, Fm going into every single 
fish-pond I can find here in the east, because I under¬ 
stand that we don’t come across them so frequently 
west of the Mississippi." 

The argument was conclusive, and, with the ex¬ 
ception of Mrs. Remington, who offered to start 
breakfast, the girls all took advantage of their op¬ 
portunity and plunged in. They found the water 
cool and delightful, and, as they swam about, they 
almost imagined themselves at one of the scout 
camps again. At first they tried to keep their hair 
from getting wet, but at last they abandoned the 
effort in favor of having a really good time—^and in¬ 
cidentally washing their hair as well. 

“The only thing that bothers me," remarked 
Ethel, “is that I spent a perfectly good dollar for 
a shampoo day before yesterday, and here I could 
have a free one today!" 


52 


THE GIEL SCOUTS’ 


‘‘Too bad about you!” laughed Florence. “But 
don’t you remember, Ethel, that we are so rich now 
that we don’t need to let mere money cares worry 
us ?” 

“Very true—I had forgotten,” admited Ethel. 
“It’s a sort of shock to become fabulously rich over 
night, isn’t it?” 

“How about when we become fabulously poor 
again?” asked Alice. “Won’t that be a jolt?” 

“I guess we’ll survive,” observed Marjorie, mak¬ 
ing her way towards the bank of the stream. Well, 
girls. I’m through—I want my breakfast I I’m go¬ 
ing back to dress, so that I can help Mrs. Reming¬ 
ton.” 

Half an hour later, when they gathered for the 
second time around the camp-fire, and smelled the 
delicious odors arising from bacon and hot coffee, 
they were subtly conscious of the return of that old 
spirit of comradeship which meant so much to them 
all. It was so pleasant to be together again—and 
under such happy circumstances. 

“If everything goes as well as it has begun,” re¬ 
marked Lily, “we certainly will have a lovely trip.” 

“And it’s going to go well,” said Marjorie with 
assurance. “There’s nothing to worry us, unless it 
is a little rain. But who cares for that?” 

“Nobody!” cried two or three of the girls at 
once. , 


MOTOR TRIP 


6S 

•'Our cars are certainly the pink of perfecLion/' 
added Lily. “Both of them are in such good con¬ 
dition that nothing short of an accident could make 
them go wrong.” 

“And even the tires are brand new, so we needn’t 
expect any punctures,” put in Ethel. 

“Wouldn’t it be funny,” chuckled Alice, “if those 
young men really are spies sent by Aunt Emeline, 
and if they find that we do everything like clock¬ 
work, and have to give her an even better report 
than we would care to give ourselves!” 

“Then let’s be starting again,” urged Marjorie, 
rising with a sudden display of energy. “And keep up 
our good beginning.” 

They changed shifts now, Florence taking the 
driver’s seat in Lily’s roadster, and Ethel assuming 
command of the larger car. Again the weather was 
bright and clear, and a smooth road stretched before 
them. The girls looked forward to another delight¬ 
ful day. 

“I wonder whether we shall get tired of riding,” 
remarked Marjorie, who was enjoying the luxury 
of a seat in the tonneau. “I don’t believe I shall, 
even after three thousand miles.” 

“I don’t believe any of us will if we don’t try to 
rush too much,” replied Mrs. Remington. “If we 
rest on Sundays, and don’t attempt to go too far in 
a day, and stop off at Mae’s—” 


64 


THE GIKL SCOUTS’ 


‘‘Won’t that be delightful!” exclaimed Alice. 
“Aren’t you girls all crazy to see her new home? 
Chauffeur—” She touched Ethel on the shoulder— 
“drive fast so that we can get there by Saturday.” 

“There’s no danger about that,” Marjorie reas¬ 
sured her, consulting her schedule for perhaps the 
fiftieth time. “We’re surer than a railroad—” 

“Sh! Marj! Don’t boast 1” warned Lily. “Don’t 
tempt Providence! I too am wild to see Mae’s 
home.” 

“It sounds as if it is very gorgeous,” said Alice. 
“Do you suppose she is as happy as Doris?” 

“I guess so,” replied Lily. ‘‘Say, Marj, don’t 
you remember what I said last year about losing 
one girl by marriage every year ? It looks as if my 
prophecy were coming true, doesn’t it?” 

“No, I won’t admit that,” answered Marjorie. 
“Just because we have had two weddings is no 
sign we’ll have more. The other six of the patrol 
are all college girls, and, as I remarked before, I 
don’t think that any of us are planning on getting 
married before we graduate. How about it girls?” 

The other two girls in the machine instantly 
agreed with her, and Marjorie turned triumphantly 
again to Lily. 

“You see, Lil, nobody will oblige you by getting 
married next year—unless you do it yourself, just to 
carry out your theory. But I don’t think that would 


MOTOR TRIP 


'be fair, after you promised to room with me at 
college/* 

“Oh, you needn*t worry about me/* laughed Lily. 
“Pm safe.’* 

The loud blowing of a horn behind them attracted 
their attention and caused Ethel to pull her car 
sharply over to the right. A second later, to their 
astonished eyes, the bright red car with its two male 
occupants went whizzing by. 

“There!’* cried Alice, excitedly. “Doesn*t that 
prove it?’* 

But the others were too much amazed to make an 
attempt to answer the question. 

“But why, I wonder,’* demanded Lily, “should 
they always insist upon passing us at such a tre¬ 
mendous rate of speed?’* 

“I know I” exclaimed Alice. “They have to get to 
the next telegraph office to send Aunt Emeline her 
report on our progress.** 

“Well, I’m sorry to spoil your story, Alice,** said 
Marjorie; “but I’m afraid that I don’t believe a 
^ord of it. These young men are probably boot¬ 
leggers—** 

“Then we*d better get the boys on their trail, as 
we did last summer!’* 

“Oh, girls, let’s forget them,” said Ethel. “As 
long as everything goes well, what do we care about 


THE GIKL SCOUTS^ 


the other travellers along the road? They're not 
hurting us!" 

“No, nothing's going to hurt us!" boasted Mar¬ 
jorie, but hardly “were the words out of her mouth 
than the first unmistakable signal of distress ap¬ 
peared. A dull, ominous knocking in the rear of the 
car, sounded distinct above the noise of their con¬ 
versation, and the whir of the machinery. Ethel 
stopped the automobile immediately, and the girls 
looked at each other in dismay. 

“It's a puncture. I'm sure!" pronounced Lily. 
“That old familiar sound—" 

“But how could it be with such lovely new tires ?" 
demanded Alice, resentfully. 

No one answered her question, for a moment 
while the girls all jumped out of the car. 

“Two punctures!" Ethel flung out. “Both back 
tires flat!" 

“But how—?" insisted Alice, still more incredu¬ 
lously. 

“I've found one cause!" announced Marjorie. 
She held up a large tack, which she had just ex¬ 
tracted from the left tire. 

“Then there must be one in the right, also,’* 
commented Ethel. “Well, girls, let's don't lose any 
time, for the tires may be stiff—the car’s new, you 
know—and they've never been changed. We'll need 
every single person to help!" 


MOTOR TRIP 


57 


‘'If we only had a couple of the boys!’’ sighed 
Alice. 

“And forfeit our trip, and the cars we are to 
win?” demanded Marjorie. “Come, cheer up, Alice. 
It’s not such a bad job; you only think so because 
you have never done it. I’m going to show you 
how.” 

But as Ethel had intimated, the task was more 
difficult than they had anticipated, and nearly an 
hour went by before it was completed. In that time 
a good many machines passed them, and a number 
stopped to offer assistance. But the girls resolutely 
refused them all. 

It was only after the tools were all put away, 
and the party ready to set off again that Marjorie 
suddenly realized that the Rolls-Royce, which had 
continued to travel behind them, had not passed them 
during the preceding hour. 

“What do you suppose could have happened?” 
she asked. 

“Probably, punctures, like us,” surmised Ethel 
“Tacks, you know.” 

“But my car’s tires are easy to change,” objected 
Lily. 

“Not easy for novices,” said Mrs. Remington. 
“Do you think that perhaps we had better turn 
back?” 

“Oh, no,” replied Ethel; “we’re too liable to run 


58 


THE GIRL SCOUTS^ 


over the same tacks again. Anyway, the girls have 
to learn. I’ll drive slowly, and probably they will 
catch up to us.” 

‘Tf they haven’t been kidnapped by the occupants 
of the red car,” observed Alice. 

“No,” said Marjorie, slowly, straining her eyes 
in the distance; “because the red car—is—coming 
towards us now!” 

A minute later the mysterious car passed them 
again, amid a cloud of smoke, j 


MOTOR TRIP 


59 


CHAPTER VI. 

NEW ACQUAINTANCES. 

When Florence and Daisy learned that in ac¬ 
cordance with Marjorie’s system they were to drive 
together in the smaller car, they both appeared some¬ 
what distressed. For, of the six girls in the party, 
these two were undoubtedly the most inexperienced. 

“Shall we ask Marj to rearrange the plan?” sug¬ 
gested Daisy. “Because /if anything should hap¬ 
pen—” 

“Oh, nothing will happen, I guess!” replied Flor¬ 
ence, reassuringly. “Everything so far has been go¬ 
ing so smoothly.” 

“Yes, and I suppose we might as well learn to 
rely on ourselves if we want to get any fun out of 
our own cars when we get them,” added her com¬ 
panion. 

Nevertheless the girls decided to go slowly, taking 
every precaution, even though it put them quite far 
behind the other car. They did not talk much, in 
order that they might better keep their minds upon 


60 


THE GIRL SCOUTS^ 


the driving; as novices they took their responsibility 
seriously. 

‘T’ve always heard that beginners grasp the steer¬ 
ing wheel too tightly/' remarked Florence, after an 
interval. “Do you notice the air of unconcern Fm 
putting on?” 

“You’ve been doing very well,” Daisy assured her. 
“We’ve been going pretty straight.” 

“Yes,—until now. But I just can’t seem to keep 
away from the gutter. Look, Daisy! It insists on 
going crooked 1” 

Her companion regarded attentively the course 
that the car was taking. 

“I believe you’re right, Flos,” she admitted, re¬ 
luctantly. “Could anything be wrong with the 
wheel?” 

A troubled expression came over the youthful 
driver’s face, as she made the experiment again. 
This time she was certain, something assuredly was 
in need of repair. She pulled up to the side of the 
road and stopped. 

“I haven’t an idea what to look for—or where 
the trouble might be,” she said. “But I think we 
had better investigate.” 

Both girls got up anxiously, and stepped around 
in front of the car. A glance informed them im¬ 
mediately of the cause of their distress; the front 
tire was as flat as a burst baloon. 


MOTOR TRIP 


61 


‘'A puncture!” exclaimed Daisy, woefully. 

‘'Yes, here is the tack!” cried Florence. “No won¬ 
der that the wheel wouldn^t go straight!” 

They surveyed it for a moment in dismay, won¬ 
dering whether they would be able to repair it. 

“Did you ever fix a puncture, Daisy?” asked 
Florence, although she was almost sure that the re¬ 
ply would be in the negative. 

“Never!” replied the other. “Did you?” 

“No, sad to relate!” 

“And we don’t know where Lily keeps her things 
—^that’s the worst of it. Still, I’ve often seen it 
done. And, as Marj always says, what other girls 
can do, Girl Scouts can surely do 1” 

They began to rummage in the tool box, taking 
out every sort of tool which they thought might 
be necesasry. Finally Florence found the jack. 

“This is the first thing to do!” she cried, holding 
it up triumphantly. “If we can get it under the car, 
and make the car rise up in the air, the hardest part 
will be done.” 

Daisy placed the tool upon the ground under the 
front axle, and began to work the lever. But the at¬ 
tempts at raising it into the higher notches proved 
all in vain; each time she lifted it up, it slipped back 
again the minute she released her hold. She gazed 
at Florence in despair. 


62 


THE GIEL SCOUTS’ 


*‘It won’t work!” she exclaimed, resigning her po¬ 
sition to the other girl. ‘‘I wish you’d try it!” 

“Maybe it’s broken,” remarked Florence dole¬ 
fully. 

“No, I don’t believe so. Only there’s some trick 
to it—” 

Florence took Daisy’s place now, and began to 
manipulate the obstinate tool, and found it just as 
disobliging for her as it had been for her companion. 
She did not even attempt to conceal her distress; in 
fact she looked so mournful that the occupants of a 
passing car would not have been human had they 
not stopped to offer assistance. 

“Puncture?” inquired a pleasant voice behind 
them, and a middle-aged man drew up his car be¬ 
side the road. “Perhaps I can help?” 

Both girls looked up eagerly and noted with bit¬ 
terness that this man was just the sort from whom 
one might accept assistance, had it not been for the 
conditions of the journey. Florence hesitated a mo¬ 
ment, as if she could not decide how to word the re¬ 
fusal, so as to make it seem courteous. At last she 
determined to tell the truth. 

“I’m awfully sorry,” she explained, “but we are 
crossing the continent with a party of girls who 
have pledged themselves not to accept help from 
men along the road. It’s—it’s hard, too, for we 


MOTOR TRIP 


63 


don't know much about automobiles!" There was a 
little catch in her voice as she concluded. 

A whimisical smile came over the face of the 
stranger and he glanced stealthily at the woman be¬ 
side him. 

*‘Then I suppose we must drive on," he began, 
when Daisy abruptly interrupted him. 

“Could—could—does the lady know how to fix 
punctures?" she asked, her eyes lighting up with 
hope. 

The woman shook her head regretfully. 

“Fm awfully sorry," she replied, “but my husband 
has never taught me anything about the car, and Fve 
always been content to let him do it all. I’m afraid 
that I’d know much less than you do yourselves." 

Daisy’s smile faded, but she pulled herself to¬ 
gether sufficiently to thank them and to bid them 
drive on. 

“But can’t I just tell you how to work that jack?" 
asked the man. “Not do it for you, you understand; 
just give you a pointer?" 

“No, thank you just the same," replied Florence, 
resolutely, “that wouldn’t be fair. We’re grown-up 
Girl Scouts, and we have to be trustworthy. So—" 
she made a violent effort to appear cheerful, “please 
don’t let us waste any more of your time!’’ 

As the machine drove away the girls turned again 
to their work, this time with reneWed energy; finally 


64 


THE GIKL SCOUTS^ 


after about ten minutes' sustained effort, they suc¬ 
ceeded in raising the car to the desired level. With¬ 
out waiting to rest even a moment, Florence seized 
the wrench and began feverishly to turn the bolts. 
But here again she encountered difficulty, apparently 
they grew tighter instead of looser. 

“I can’t imagine what is the matter,” she said. 
“It isn’t as if Lily’s car were new and stiff like the 
other. I’m sure all these tires have been changed 
before.” 

Daisy stood behind her, regarding her thought¬ 
fully. 

“Do you know, Flos,” she said slowly, “I believe 
that you’re turning those nuts the wrong way!” 

Florence stopped for a moment and frowned. 

“I believe you’re right, Daisy,” she acceded. “Yes 
—I guess I am 1” 

Then both girls laughed unrestrainedly. 

“Let me try,” suggested Daisy. “You’re all 
worn out.” 

But try as they did for the next fifteen minutes, 
they could not unloosen all of the bolts that held the 
tire rim fast. At last they sat down in despair on the 
step of the car, and wiped the perspiration from 
their foreheads. 

“I’m about ready to give up,” admitted Daisy.. 
“I’m all in.” 


MOTOR TRIP 65 

‘^So am I/' agreed Florence. ‘‘Shall we ask the 
next man that comes along. 

“I certainly hate to give in, but Fd almost be 
tempted to accept an offer if we got one.” 

“And forfeit our hope of winning the machines?” 
Florence reminded her. “Oh, surely, Daisy, we’re 
too good sports for that.” 

“Well, we would have our trip, anyhow. We 
wouldn’t be expected to turn back just for that.” 

“I don’t know,” answered Florence. “Let’s rest 
for a while, and attack it later on. Maybe a woman 
will come along—” 

“Or maybe the girls will miss us and come back 
to help.” 

“Or—maybe—maybe—” Florence strained hef 
eyes—“yes! Daisy! Here comes the red car!” 

“Not the one Alice has been so excited about?” 
Daisy jumped to her feet in her emotion. 

“Yes, it is! And what’s more, they’re slowing 
down!” 

“Oh, Flos, let’s let them help us! I’m so tired. 
And the rules that old lady made are so ridiculous 
—she must be crazy!” 

“Yes, I’d agree she was sort of crazy; who else 
would pay the expenses of six unknown people across 
the continent, just for the pleasure of presenting 
them with automobiles? We may never see the 
cars, anyway!—Still—I almost believe this may be 


66 


THE GIRL SCOUTS' 


some sort of trap, as Alice thinks. Maybe the boys 
are going to try to tempt us.'^ 

‘‘Well, then we won’t give in!” announced Daisy, 
with sudden energy. “I’m not going to accept their 
help if I have to stay here a month!” 

“That’s the spirit!” cried Florence. 

Both girls turned to their wheel again, and pre¬ 
tended to be deeply absorbed in their task as the 
brightly colored car drew up beside them. Neither 
looked up until one of the young men spoke. 

“Pardon me,” he began, in a soft, drawling tone, 
“but isn’t there some way we could assist you young 
ladies?” 

Florence and Daisy now had an opportunity to 
obtain a good look at these two youths, who had 
been so much in their minds during the previous 
day. Both were of blond complexion, with light 
eyes, which were covered by goggles; both were ex¬ 
ceedingly well dressed in correct motor attire, their 
clothing bearing the unmistakable mark of the ex¬ 
pensive tailor. In spite of themselves the girls were 
impressed. 

“I’m awfully sorry,” replied Florence as gracious¬ 
ly as she could, “but we are not allowed to accept 
help from any members of the opposite sex. You 
see—” she smiled as she saw a puzzled expression 
on the strangers’ faces—“you see we are travelling 


MOTOR TRIP 


67 


across the country with a party, and that is one of 
the regulations!*’ 

*^How queer!” exclaimed the other young man, 
who up to this time had not spoken. *‘It sounds like 
nuns in a convent—” 

“No, not nuns,” returned Daisy; “only Girl 
Scouts.” 

“Then you mean to say that we can’t even fix 
your puncture for you?” continued the stranger. 
“What utter nonsense! Why do you put up with 
any such fool rule ?” 

“Because the old lady who made it has arranged 
it to be worth our while to keep it,” explained 
Florence. She watched the young men narrowly to 
see whether they would show any signs of knowl¬ 
edge of the affair, as Alice believed. But they ap¬ 
peared only politely curious. 

“We’re to receive run-abouts if we make the trip 
as our sponsor dictated,” she added. “So you better 
believe that we won’t let a little puncture stop us.” 

While this conversation was going on, Daisy was 
racking her brain for a method of learning the 
young men’s names, so that she might put Alice’s 
theory to test. She could think of no way which was 
not abrupt; nevertheless she meant to risk anything 
for the sake of information. 

“We have seen your car before,” she remarked, 
glancing over at the red racer beside them. “It is 


68 


THE GIRL SCOUTS^ 


such a brilliant color—and—well—you have passed 
us several times!” 

Both young men smiled in amusement. 

“It did look rather strange, I guess,” admitted 
the taller, better looking man; “if you didn’t know 
our reason. We really aren’t following you, though 
it might seem so. We’re travelling across the con¬ 
tinent too—and stopping in the principal towns to 
look up fraternity brothers. In fact,” the young 
man concluded, “we are rounding up as many as 
we can for a convention in September.” 

“Oh, I see,” said Florence, turning again to the 
wheel, and this time, to her extreme delight, suc¬ 
ceeding in unloosening a nut. “Then perhaps we 
shall meet you again!” 

“That would be delightful,” he murmured cour¬ 
teously; then, leaning down, he almost took the 
wrench from Florence’s hand. 

“Just let me do this one—it’s a tough one, I seel” 
he pleaded. “Nobody will see, and we’ll never tell,’* 

“No, no!” cried Florence, impetuously. “No, 
Mr.— ?” She stopped, questioningly. 

“McDaniel,” supplied the young man, straighten¬ 
ing up again and searching in his pocket for his 
card. His companion followed his example and a 
moment later each girl had in her possession the 
means of identifying both men. The names which 
they read were: 


MOTOR TRIP 


69 


‘'Clyde Rutgers McDaniel” 

and 

“Vincent S. Cryton, Jr.” 

Alice’s theory was abruptly smashed to pieces! 
Still the young men made no movement to go. 
“Flos, you are worn-out!” exclaimed Daisy, with 
concern. “Let’s allow Mr. McDaniel and Mr. Cry- 
ton to finish, since they insist. After all, I don’t care 
so awfully much about owning a car. It would be a 
dreadful nuisance, with its punctures and things— 
Mr. McDaniel made a motion to comply with the 
request and threw off his coat. Florence looked up, 
her face flushed with the effort, and caught sight of 
another machine with two more young men slowly 
approaching. But a sudden resolution took posses¬ 
sion of her, and her eyes flashed defiantly. 

“No! I am getting it now,” she replied. “And 
—I don’t want to seem rude, but I’d really rather 
that you people would go on. We’ll work faster—” 
“Oh, certainly!” agreed Cryton, humbly. “We 
don’t want to intrude—” 

“And we thank you just the same,” added Daisy. 
“You’re sure that we can’t help?” asked Mc¬ 
Daniel, for the last time, as he went towards his own 
car. Then, remembering that he still had not learned 
the girl’s names, he turned about abruptly and asked 
them. 


70 


THE GIEL SCOUTS' 


“Florence Evans and Daisy Gravers," replied the 
latter, immediately. “We haven’t our cards—" 

“Oh, we won’t forget them!’’ returned McDaniel, 
as he started the engine. “Goodbye—^till we see you 
again!" 

“Goodbye!" called both girls together. 

As soon as the machine was out of hearing dis¬ 
tance, the girls began to discuss the visit, and to 
laugh over Alice’s mistake. 

“I knew her theory was a wild one," remarked 
Florence. “Alice does fly off the handle, you know. 
Maybe she takes after that aunt of hers." 

“And aren’t you crazy to see the others and tell 
them all about it ?’’ asked Daisy. “Our puncture did 
one good thing, anyhow. Now, let’s work fast." 

The rest and the fresh impetus to work gave the 
girls new courage, and they attacked the remainder 
of their task with added energy. In a very few 
minutes they succeeded in getting the tire off; after 
that it was a simple matter to adjust the spare, 
gather up their tools and go on. 

After this rather extended delay, they naturally 
Jdid not expect to catch up to the other car for some 
time, and were therefore greatly surprised to see 
it in less than ten minutes. Florence blew her horn 
continuously until she attracted the other girls’ atten¬ 
tion; then Ethel stopped and waied for her to pull 


MOTOR TRIP 


71 


up along side of her car. A moment later they were 
comparing experiences. 

“And did our friends of the bright red car stop 
and offer to help you?^’ asked Florence, casually, 
careful however to keep her eyes fastened upon 
Alice. The latter started visibly. 

“No!” she cried. “Did they to you?” 

“Yes—and we refused them.” 

“Naturally,” replied Marjorie. “But did you get 
their names?” 

Florence handed the cards to the girls in the other 
machine, while she told of their reason for such zizag 
driving as they were engaging in. 

“I don’t believe in any fraternity story!” ex¬ 
claimed Alice. “Those are assumed names! They’re 
—they’re—” 

But the others interrupted her with their laughter, 

“All the same,” remarked Marjorie, as Ethel 
started her motor again, “I can’t help thinking that 
maybe Alice is on the right track! Maybe they had 
something to do with scattering those tacks!” 

And the girls gave some thought to the conjec¬ 
ture, for it was Marjorie Wilkinson who had uttered 
it. 


72 


THE GIKL SCOUTS^ 


CHAPTER VIL 

THE VISIT TO MAE's. 

For the next few days everything went serenely. 
The weather was fine, and the scenery beautiful; 
with the exception of one thunderstorm and the 
spoiling of some rather good food, the girls met with 
no misfortune whatever. Nor did they see the red 
car again until they stopped at a hotel in Pittsburg. 
Then they met the young men in the lobby, just as 
they were about to go in to dinner. Florence and 
Daisy both nodded graciously, and Alice squeezed 
EtheFs arm so hard that she exclaimed aloud. 

“Now’s our chance to pump them,” the excited 
girl whispered. “Make Flos and Daisy introduce 
them!” 

“You still really cling to the theory that they are 
on the look-out for us?” asked Ethel. 

“Why, certainly; Aunt Emeline could hire other 
spies besides my cousins.” 

“Yes, but would she? Personally, I believe their 
own statement about their business, though they may 
be detectives or—” 


MOTOR TRIP 


73 


“Do hurry, girls!’’ interrupted Marjorie, beckon¬ 
ing to them to follow her. “Everybody is waiting!” 

As soon as they were seated at the table, Alice re¬ 
peated her desire to be introduced to the two young 
men. Florence, however, was scornful of her rea¬ 
son. 

“Don’t be so impulsive, Alice!” she said. “There’s 
nothing a bit unusual about those two men. It’s easy 
to understand now why they go back and forth, first 
in one direction and then in another, whenever they 
get news of another fraternity brother to look up. 
However, you may as well meet them if you want 
to; after all they are rather stunning.” 

“Yes, in looks,” admitted Marjorie. “But there 
is something about them that I don’t like—I don’t 
know just what—” 

“They’re not John Hadleys!” supplied Florence. 
“Well, wait till you meet them. I’ll seize any op¬ 
portunity that comes.” 

But unfortunately for Alice, no opportunity did 
come, for the young men left the hotel immediately 
after supper, not to return again. For the time be¬ 
ing they were forgotten; indeed, the only event that 
loomed large before them was their visit to their old 
chum at Lima. 

“And now for Mae’s!” cried Marjorie, as she 
again took command of the wheel of the larger car, 


74 


THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 


and directed it through the city, back to the Lincoln 
Highway. 

“That will be something like a stop,” said Ethel, 
who happened to be riding beside her. “Friday— 
Saturday—Sunday—three whole days! We havenT 
been gone long, and yet Fll be glad for the rest.” 

“It will be nice,” replied Marjorie. “But we can- 
make little week-end stops all along the way, if we 
continue to run on scheduled time without any de¬ 
lays. We have two whole weeks extra, don’t forget!” 

“Still, we mustn’t be too extravagant,” Ethel re¬ 
minded her. 

And yet, in spite of their forebodings, they found 
no more difficulties in their path as the time pro¬ 
gressed; indeed, they began to feel as if luck would 
be with them all the way. They drove into Lima on 
scheduled time, and went directly to Mae’s new 
home. 

They found it without any trouble, situated on the 
wide main street, farther out from the traffic and the 
places of business. The width of the avenue, the 
height of the lovely old shade trees, the dignity of 
the green and white house itself, surrounded by 
beds of flowers, took them somewhat by surprise; 
they had not expected to find anything so prepossess¬ 
ing in so small a town. 

Carefully locking their machines, but leaving their 
baggage until later, they ran lightly up the hedge- 


MOTOR TRIP 


75 


bordered walk to the porch. The prospect of see¬ 
ing one of their missing comrades filled them all 
with delight, and made them act like children again. 

“Fm going to be the first to give Mae a big hug!” 
exclaimed Alice, pushing right up to the door-step. 

“No, me!” protested Daisy, as if she were a six- 
year-old. 

“Here she comes!” announced Mrs. Remington, 
and both girls jostled each other towards the door. 
A moment later it was thrown open from the inside; 
but instead of Mae’s smiling countenance they beheld 
the immovable face of a butler! 

“Oh!” gasped Alice; but Mrs. Remington saved 
the situation by asking for Mrs. Melville. 

“She is expecting you,” answered the servant, 
quietly. “Please step in.” 

The interior of the house proved to be just as 
charming as the exterior. The wide, square hall 
with its lovely curved staircase, the big rooms on 
either side, now appearing cool and delightful with 
their summer hangings and grass rugs, the big 
screened windows reaching from the floor to the ceil¬ 
ing seemed so restful, so inviting to the girls after 
their hot trip. The whole house was much more 
sumptuous than anything they had pictured; for a 
moment they felt almost awe-struck, as if they were 
about to pay a formal call upon some older woman 
instead of being there to spend the week-end with 


76 


THE GIKL SCOUTS’ 


one of their chums. But as soon as Mae entered, 
they forgot their embarrassment. 

‘‘Don’t you feel terribly dignified in this wonder¬ 
ful house?” asked Alice. “So grown-up—?” 

“Only when the minister calls, or I am engaging 
a servant,” Mae replied. “But just with Tom or my 
own friends, I still feel like a kid.” 

“And now tell us all about the wedding,” pleaded 
Lily, unwilling to wait even until they had removed 
their hats. 

This of course was a subject upon which Mae was 
well versed and she glady went into details, describ¬ 
ing everything she could think of to her interested 
listeners. Finally she rose with the suggestion that 
the girls go to their rooms. 

“And you really have a place for us all?” asked 
Alice, incredulously. 

“Yes, indeed,” laughed Mae. “My one regret is 
that we couldn’t put the boys up. There are four 
of them, besides Mr. Remington—” 

“When are they coming?” interrupted Lily. 

“Not till tomorrow afternoon. I am planning a 
little dinner-dance, just with the crowd and two 
extra young men Tom is inviting to make the num-' 
bers come out even.” 

“Oh, Mae!” exclaimed Marjorie. “You are mak¬ 
ing it so attractive that we will never want to go 
any further.” 


MOTOR TRIP 


77 


“Suits me! Why not stay here for the rest of 
the summer?’* 

“It would be lovely,” sighed Daisy, who was a 
little weary from the trip. 

Supper that evening was to be out of doors, in a 
charming little summer house overrun with rambler 
roses. The girls sat down on the rustic benches with 
deep sighs of content; they were glad to be still for a 
while, glad to be able to drop their sense of respon¬ 
sibility for the time being, and to know that they 
could enjoy this evening alone. It was Ethel who 
voiced the sentiment of the crowd. 

“The party with the boys will be lovely tomorrow 
evening,” she said, “but isn’t it nice now just to be 
alone I” 

“It certainly is,” agreed Marjorie. “And I have 
such a ferocious appetite, Mae; I’m afraid I’m going 
to eat you out of house and home.” 

“No fear of that,” returned her hostess. “Now 
girls, somebody has got to tell me all about your 
trip—I want every single detail 1” 

“Oh, it’s been terribly uneventful,” complained 
Alice. “Except for the red car, with the two good- 
looking young men, it’s been too monotonous.” 

“What two young men?” asked Mae. 

“Oh, nobody special,” answered Lily, lightly. “Of 
course Flos and Daisy do think they’re pretty 


78 


THE GIKL SCOUTS' 


nice—’’ Then she went into detail about the story, 
insignificant as it was. 

“Do you really think," inquired Mae, after Lily 
had finished, “that you are going to earn those cars 
at the end of the trip ?" 

“We're certain of it," said Marjorie, with the 
same assurance she had displayed all along. 

This very positiveness was a source of great com¬ 
fort to the more timid girls; in fact, all of the scouts 
had so much confidence in her that they rejoiced to 
find her so optimistic. It was only the boys who 
secretly experienced a feeling of dismay at her at¬ 
titude. John Hadley in particular, though he liked 
to see Marjorie succeed in everything she under¬ 
took, had been hoping that she would give up this 
trip, which at the same time was so dangerous and 
so tiring. Besides, he hated to have the girl so far 
away, and so inaccessible to mail. In his inmost 
heart he had been cherishing the longing that some¬ 
thing would happen to bring them nearer to home 
for the summer. However, he decided not to let 
any regrets disturb the enjoyment of this week-end. 

The boys had arrived late in the afternoon, an hour 
or so before dinner; but Tom and his two guests had 
not yet put in an appearance. It was Alice who 
seemed most eager for them to come; perhaps this 
was because among the four young men now present 
—^Jack Wilkinson, John Hadley, Dick Roberts, and 


MOTOR TRIP 


79 


Bill Warner—she was not anyone’s particular 
favorite. 

''What are their names, Mae?” she asked. 

"I forgot their first names,” replied her hostess. 
"Their last names are McDaniel and Cryton. 
They’re fraternity brothers of Tom.” 

"What?” cried Florence, with a start. "Not 
really? Are they strangers in town?” 

"I believe so. Why? Do you know them?” 

"I should say we do! Why, they’re the mys¬ 
terious men Alice was telling you about! Tell us 
about them, Mae!” 

"I’m sorry,” replied the bride, "but I never heard 
their names mentioned before. Evidently they are 
not intimate friends of Tom’s. He said that they 
practically invited themselves; I believe they dropped 
into his office about some frat business, and told him 
he had to find them some amusement for Saturday 
night. Luckily, he hadn’t asked anybody else yet 
for the dance, so he invited them to the party.” 

"And do they know that we are touring—I mean 
that the girls they are to meet are crossing the con¬ 
tinent in a car?” asked Daisy, in an animated tone. 
"And that we are Girl Scouts—?” 

"Yes, I believe Tom did mention something like 
that.” 

"Then they’ll probably not be surprised to find out 
who we are!’ exclaimed Daisy. 





80 


THE GIKL SCOUTS' 


‘"Girls!’’ interrupted Alice. ""There’s something 
more than coincidence to this. Those young men are 
stalking us! I’m sure of it now.” 

""Alice, I thought we convinced you that there was 
nothing to that theory,” protested Florence. ""Won’t 
you please forget it ?” 

""I’ll try to,” murmured the girl, meekly. ""Still, 
I am crazy to meet them.” 

She did not have to wait long, for a few minutes 
later the young men arrived. They did not appear 
in the least surprised at seeing the girls again, and 
greeted Daisy and Florence as old friends. 

""Companions of the road!” cried MacDaniel, shak¬ 
ing hands heartily. 

""Here’s hoping we can keep this up!” added Cry- 
ton. "‘It’s mightly pleasant—” 

""We didn’t know you belonged to Tom’s fra¬ 
ternity till Mae told us,” said Daisy. 

""Well, it’s a very large organization,” replied 
McDaniel; "‘in fact, the second largest in the United 
States.” 

"‘Maybe you know my cousins,” ventured Alice; 
""you seem to know so many people.” 

""What are their names ?” inquired Cryton. 

“Crowell—Milton and Vaughn, of San Francis¬ 
co.” She watched the young men narrowly. 

""Yes, indeed!” replied both of them without the 
least hesitation. 


MOTOR TRIP 


81 


‘‘And my Aunt Emeline?'* 

“No, we have never met her/’ 

Alice’s face clouded; it was unlikely that the boys 
were carrying out a mission for a woman whom they 
did not know. They probably were not lying, or 
they would have concealed their acquaintance with 
her cousin. Alice heaved a sigh of disappoint¬ 
ment. 

Mae, v/ho had noticed both Daisy’s and Florence's 
interest in the young men, contrived to seat them 
next to each other at the table; and during the whole 
meal they so succeeded in absorbing the girls’ atten¬ 
tion that it was noticeable to the other members of 
the party. Marjorie even made a remark to this ef¬ 
fect to John Hadley. 

He hesitated a moment, choosing his words care¬ 
fully before he ventured a reply. 

“Marjorie,” he said, almost under his breath, “I 
don’t like those two young men.” 

Marjorie, who had been thinking the same thing 
herself, was surprised at his opinion. 

“But why?” she asked. ^ 

“I can’t explain it—but—well—they just look de¬ 
ceitful. And I don’t like to see Daisy and Florence 
so interested.” 

“Oh, well,” said the girl, lightly, “we probably 
won’t see them again. So I guess it’s no serious 
matter.” 


82 


THE GIKL SCOUTS’ 


‘Then you don't think that there is anything to 
this theory of Alice’s?" 

“Absolutely nothing! Except that both the young 
men are rather fresh, and think it smart to make 
themselves conspicuous." 

“Just the same," observed John, “I wish that they 
were not travelling your direction across the con¬ 
tinent." 

But Marjorie only laughed at his fears, and be¬ 
fore the discussion had a chance to go any further, 
the party adjourned to the porch. There the other 
groups were broken up, but Daisy and Florence, 
with the two young strangers, sought a corner by 
themselves, and, much to Marjorie’s dismay, re¬ 
mained there until the music started. Even then, 
they did not dance much with the other boys; by 
the time the evening was over, Marjorie had begun 
to take John’s words seriously. 

It was not, however, until Sunday night that she 
was honestly worried. Then she overheard Daisy 
come to Mrs. Remington with the request that they 
be allowed to stay in Lima another day. 

“Without us?" asked the older woman, in 
astonishment. 

“Yes—and go on later with the little car. Mae 
will be delighted to put us up another night." 

“Have you any special reason?" inquired Mrs. 
Remington. 


MOTOR TRIP 


83 


“Yes, we want to go on a picnic with the boys. 
They know of the loveliest little stream— 

But Mrs. Remington shook her head. 

“I couldn't let you, Daisy, unless the whole party 
stayed." 

Marjorie frowned as she heard this suggestion, 
but Daisy jumped at it eagerly as the solution of 
her problem. 

“Then you all stay too!" she pleaded. 

In the end Mrs. Remington consented, and much 
to the delight of their hostess, the scouts remained 
until Tuesday morning. 

“Three days gone out of our surplus of fourteen!" 
sighed Marjorie, when the time of the visit was up, 
and they took to the road again. 

“But such happy days!" added Daisy, her eyes 
shining with the memory, y 


84 


THE GIKL SCOUTS'/ 


CHAPTER VIII. 

:n the night. 

It was with sincere reluctance that Florence and 
Daisy made their adieus to their new friends; in¬ 
deed, it seemed almost as if they were willing to 
abandon their trip to extend their visit at Mae’s. 
Marjorie, however, who could not forget John’s 
estimate of the young men’s characters, breathed a 
sigh of relief when they left Lima for good. 

“How soon do you expect to meet your new 
friends again?” asked Ethel of Daisy. 

“Not very soon,” replied Daisy. “They are go¬ 
ing to be off the Lincoln Highway for a while— 
going north to round up some frat brothers in 
Toledo.” 

“Then we won’t have the fun of watching for the 
red car any more!” sighed Alice. 

“It’s not much fun, now the mystery is ex¬ 
plained!” remarked Lily peevishly. 

“The mystery of their interest being Daisy and 
Flos,” teased Ethel. “Seriously, though, please tell 


MOTOR TRIP 


85 


us when your next date is—for we know that you 
have one!’’ 

‘Well, I have to admit that we did make one,” 
said Daisy, blushingly. “They’re going to look us 
up at our hotel in Chicago.” 

Marjorie, who happened to be riding with Mrs. 
Remington in the little car, did not hear the remark 
at the time, but later when Lily repeated it to her, 
she frowned darkly. 

“I almost wish that something would happen to 
delay us,” she said. “I’d be willing to sacrifice one 
of our eleven extra days just to keep the girls from 
seeing those young men I” 

“Not eleven any more, Marj!” corrected Lily. 
“We’re not travelling this Sunday again, so that 
means another day counted out.” 

“Sure enough,” agreed Marjorie. “But what is a 
day or so when everything is going so perfectly?” 

“Sh! Don’t boast, Marj! We have a long dis¬ 
tance to go yet. Oh, won’t it be great when we 
come back, and can take our own sweet time about 
it?” 

“Yes, but the excitement is half the fun. Still, I 
would like to go and see Mae, and stay a little while 
longer this time. She invited us to stop on the way 
back, you know.” 

“Yes, I’d like to stop too,” added Lily. “Oh, 
how I wish that this summer would last forever!” 


86 


THE GIKL SCOUTS’ 


“You’ve said that every summer, Lil—and we 
still continue to have good times!” Marjorie re¬ 
minded her. 

The days that followed seemed only to prove the 
truth of Marjorie’s statement. The weather con¬ 
tinued fine^ and the road good; each evening the 
girls made their camp and stopped for the night. 
The rain obligingly held off until the week-end, 
when the party was comfortably established at a 
little inn. 

“And tomorrow night we have to camp again,” 
observed Marjorie, as she watched the sun trying 
to peep through the clouds at sunset. “I hope the 
ground gets dry.” 

“The only thing that worries me is food,” re¬ 
marked Mrs. Remington. “We’ll have to camp 
several days, and there may not be many stores 
along the way. We must buy plenty.” 

“If we only had more room to pack it!” sighed 
Lily. “That one hamper isn’t very big.” 

Nevertheless, they packed it scientifically and 
succeeded in storing enough to supply a much larger 
party for a week. Then they set off early in the 
morning to make their daily hundred miles. 

The sun, which had appeared early in the day, 
vanished under the clouds by noon, and a light rain 
fell during the afternoon. The prospect of making 
camp under these conditions was not alluring, and 


MOTOR TRIP 


87 


the girls began to look for houses. But the few 
that they saw were mean and tumble-down, ob¬ 
viously unfitted to afford accommodations for a 
party of seven. At last, however, the rain ceased, 
and Marjorie suggested that they make camp. 

They were in a flat open space now, where only 
a few groups of trees dotted the landscape here 
and there. The ground itself looked damp and un¬ 
inviting. The girls surveyed it with dismay. 

“I don^t care much about sleeping on this!” re¬ 
marked Marjorie, as she looked about her. 

“Maybe we could sleep in the cars,” suggested! 
Lily. 

“Pm afraid not,” answered Mrs. Remington. 
“There^s too much baggage, and too little room. 
But I think we really might as well eat our supper 
here. Can we get along without cooking much ?” 

“Yes, indeed,” answered Ethel, who had superin¬ 
tended the buying. “We have plenty of delicatessen 
stuff. But don't you think we ought to have some¬ 
thing hot to drink ?” 

“And a fire would be awfully welcome,” added 
Lily. 

“How about coffee?” inquired Alice, already 
starting upon her search in the hamper. 

“No, cocoa,” advised Mrs. Remington. “We 
don't want to take any chances of staying awake on 
a night like this.” 


THE GIKL SCOUTS' 


“And we want to turn in early," put in Ethel. 

“At least if we can find a spot—" began Mar¬ 
jorie, squinting her eyes in all directions for a suit¬ 
able location. “How about that little grove of trees 
over there ?" 

“Way over there?" demanded Alice incredulously, 
fixing her eyes upon the only trees anywhere near 
them. “That's too far from the road—" 

“You mean that you're afraid?—" 

“No, Marj—^not for ourselves. But suppose the 
machines should be stolen!" 

“Nonsense!" laughed the young lieutenant. “We 
could hear if they were. Besides, nobody steals cars 
out here—everybody owns them. And we have good 
locks." 

“All right! I'm game if everybody else is." 

The girls all pressed into the larger machine when 
supper was ready, and succeeded in finding some 
sort of places to sit. Alice and Daisy, it was true, 
were obliged to curl up on the floor. 

“I'm glad that we bought plenty of food," re¬ 
marked Ethel. “We ought to have some left over.” 

“Wait till you see how much I eat!" warned 
Alice. “I'm simply starved!" 

“I guess that we didn't take long enough for our 
lunch," reasoned Mrs. Remington. “We were too 
anxious to get along." 

“Well, we certainly have covered ground today," 


MOTOR TRIP 


89 


asserted Ethel, proudly. ‘‘The bad weather didnT 
bother us V* 

“How many miles did we make?” asked Mar¬ 
jorie. 

“A hundred and sixteen.” 

“Now if we only had a good comfortable bed—” 
began Lily, but she was interrupted immediately by 
Marjorie. 

“Just wait till I find you a place! I have a notion 
that it will be as fine as the Waldorf-Astoria— 

“Where ?” demanded two or three at once. 

“After supper Lll show you!” 

As soon as the meal was concluded and the food 
packed again into the hamper, they followed Mar¬ 
jorie to the spot she had selected for the camp. It 
was some fifty yards from the road; a little, se¬ 
cluded grove of trees, overgrown with vines. Under¬ 
neath the ground was comparatively dry; it would 
be the best possible location for their camp. 

“Do you really think we can all squeeze into 
there?” inquired Lily doubtfully. 

“Yes, if we allot each girl so much space and no 
more,” calculated Marjorie. “And we hardly need 
to put up our tents!” 

“Suppose it pours?” asked Alice. 

“Alice, you're always bringing up too many ob¬ 
jections!” cried Ethel. “We have to take chances 
on a trip like this.” 


90 


THE GIKL SCOUTS' 


‘‘But suppose we can be seen from the road/’ 
persisted the other. “Fd hate to have the tourists 
watch me snore*” 

“No one can possibly see us! And besides, we 
can use our tents to cover the ground, and keep us 
dry.” 

In the end Marjorie’s common sense prevailed as 
it usually did, and the girls locked their cars and 
prepared for sleep. They managed to stretch mos¬ 
quito netting over themselves, from tree to tree, and 
settled down to the spots which they were assigned. 
Marjorie slept nearest to the opening, with her re¬ 
volver at her side. 

It was some time before she was able to go to 
sleep; besides the occasional sound of a passing car, 
she imagined that she could hear footsteps, and she 
kept listening intently. The sky had entirely cleared 
now, and the stars were shining; as she lay there 
on the canvas she kept opening her eyes and gazing 
up at them. She did not feel in the least afraid, 
camping out there in the open, but she sincerely 
hoped that nothing would happen for the other girls’ 
sake. Anything out of the ordinary might throw 
some of them into a nervous state, which up to the 
present they had been able to avoid. Once this calm 
were disturbed, it might be very difficult to induce 
them to camp in the lonely places along the road. 
And Marjorie preferred them to the regular sites. 


MOTOR TRIP 


91 


So she continued to listen intently; once she was 
almost sure that she heard a machine stop out on 
the road. Not wishing to arouse the others, she 
cautiously raised herself to a sitting position and 
peered out through the trees. But she distinguished 
only the two reds lights of the silent cars by the 
side of the road. 

She was just about to lie down again when she 
thought that she heard a faint scuffling noise, which 
seemed to come from the direction of their cars, 
and she made up her mind to investigate. Manag¬ 
ing to creep through the enclosure without caus¬ 
ing any disturbance, she stepped out clear of the 
trees. Accustomed now to the darkness, she looked 
down towards the road, and to her sudden alarm, 
identified the shadowy outline of a third car, be¬ 
hind both of theirs, and carrying no light. A sense 
of fear took possession of her, and she grasped the 
tree to steady herself; then, in another moment the 
car started quietly, and drove away. When it was 
almost out of sight she saw it flash on its lights. 

The tree branch at her side rustled slightly, and 
she turned sharply around. Ethel Todd stood at 
the opening beside her. 

'‘What's the matter, Marj?" she demanded, in 
a whisper. 

“Nothing,” replied Marjorie. “I just thought 
that I heard something.” 



93 


THE GIKL SCOUTS’ 


‘^And did you?'' 

“Evidently not. I didn’t see anything to cause 
alarm." 

“Positively?" 

Marjorie hesitated; she did not want to lie, and 
she felt that there would be no danger in giving 
Ethel the little she did know. 

“Well, I did see a car stopped by the road-side. 
But it’s gone now." 

“A puncture, I suppose," Ethel surmised. “What 
kind of car?" 

“A small one—I couldn't see very well. It didn’t 
have any light." 

“Didn’t have any light!" repeated the other girl. 
“That looks suspicious. Did it stop very near to 
ours?" 

“Yes, right behind it." Marjorie took a few 
steps away from the trees, in order not to waken the 
others by their whispering. “And," she added, “it 
reminded me of the racer!" 

“Not the red car?" demanded Ethel. “You mean 
our friends?—" 

“Yes. I thought of them." 

“But they’re not anywhere near here," said Ethel 
lightly. “Besides, what would they want?" 

“Oh, I don’t know—maybe some fool practical 
joke. I had a sort of feeling that they meant to 


MOTOR TRIP 


93 


hang around. And I don’t like them. They seem 
like adventurers or fortune-hunters, or something 
of the sort.” 

“But we have too much sense to let them ‘adven¬ 
ture’ with us, and we have no fortunes!” protested 
Ethel. “So why worry?” 

“I guess there really is nothing to worry about,” 
replied Marjorie. “Still, you know Daisy and Flos 
are so young, and they do seem smitten.” 

“Well, the youths may be all right at that. You 
take John’s opinions too seriously, Marj. Come on, 
let’s go back to bed I” 

Although Marjorie was able to forget the inci¬ 
dent for the time being and to go to sleep, she was 
reminded of it again the next morning the minute 
that she opened her eyes. For she was awakened 
by the announcement that they had been robbed the 
previous night. 

“Robbed?” she cried, jumping up and running 
down to the big car, where most of the other girls 
were already gathered. “How much ? What ?” 

“Not of any money,” replied Mrs. Remington. 
“I had that beside me, and I would have wakened 
up if anybody had come near. But—some of you 
girls may think that it’s a worse loss than money— 
all our food’s gone! They took hamper and all!” 

Marjorie looked from one to the other, aghast 


94 


THE GIRL SCOUTS' 


at the news, which by this time was familiar to 
the rest of the scouts. She glanced questioningly at 
Ethel, and saw by her expression that she had said 
nothing of their alarm in the night. But no doubt 
this was the explanation of the halted car. 

‘‘But what are we to do?” demanded Alice, al¬ 
most hysterically. 

“We’ll have to go back,” replied Mrs. Reming¬ 
ton, quietly. “For there may be no stores farther 
on, and we know of the one we left yesterday.” 

“But that will mean a whole day lost!” wailed 
Florence. 

“Two days, Flos,” Ethel corrected her. “One 
day going back, and another day coming forward. 
What’s the matter with your mathematics?” 

“Two, out of our surplus of ten—that leaves us 
eight.” Marjorie calculated rapidly. “Yes, it will 
be our best plan to spend our time as Mrs. Reming¬ 
ton suggests—it will be the most economical in the 
end.” 

“Couldn’t we beg or buy a meal at one of these 
shacks that we’re always passing?” suggested Flor¬ 
ence. 

“No, we’d be running too big a chance,” answered 
their chaperone. “The food might not be good— 
we might all get sick. Besides, we have several 
days of camping ahead, and we must store up.” 


f 


MOTOR TRIP 


95 


“But who do you suppose did it?” persisted Alice. 

It was then that Marjorie told her story, omitting, 
however, the fact that she had noticed a resem¬ 
blance to the red car. 

“What kind of people could they be to want to 
steal food?” asked Florence. “Why food in par¬ 
ticular ?” 

“That is just what puzzles me,” answered Mrs. 
Remington. “They must be campers, like our¬ 
selves.” 

“I have an idea I” cried Alice. “Suppose we steal 
some from the next machine that comes along! If 
we only werenT Girl Scouts—” 

“Come, let's stop this talking and do something!” 
said Florence, who was beginning to feel the pangs 
of hunger. “Shall we try to catch the car? Would 
you know it again, Marj ?” 

“Hardly. It was too dark. I merely saw that 
it was a low, small car without a top, and that it 
carried no lights. I’m afraid we can’t hope to 
catch it.” She cast a significant glance at Ethel. 

“Well, there’s not much harm done,” declared 
Mrs. Remington cheerfully, as she began to make 
preparations for departure. “We have plenty of 
money left, and we can afford to lose a little time. 
So let’s hurry and be on our way again. At least 
we can have a drink of water for breakfast.” 


96 


THE GIRL SCOUTS^ 


“If only we could catch the thieves!’' sighed Alice, 
as she walked back to the grove. 

“Maybe we will yet!” Marjorie muttered under 
her breath to Ethel. 


MOTOR TKIpj 


. 9T 


CHAPTER IX. > 

NO MAN^S LAND. 

Re-enforced again with food and supplies, the 
girls set out upon the road which by this time had 
become familar. But they decided not to risk camp¬ 
ing in the spot which had proved so unlucky; in¬ 
stead they preferred to avail themselves of the public 
grounds set aside for the purpose. 

They continued to follow the Lincoln Highway 
until it was time to turn north to Chicago, for in this 
city they were to rest for a day or two and do a 
little shopping. Of all the party Marjorie alone 
was in favor of limiting their stay to one night; 
the majority however prevailed, and two of their 
eight surplus days were to be sacrificed. Daisy and 
Florence were both enthusiastic supporters of the 
^proposition. 

They arrived in Chicago late in the afternoon 
and drove immediately to their hotel, where they 
had arranged by telegram for rooms. Hardly had 
they settled themselves and their belongings before 
Florence was summoned to the telephone. She was 


98 


THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 

•l, 

gone nearly fifteen minutes; then sKe returned in 
high spirits to the group assembled in Marjorie’s 
room. 

“We don’t need to ask who it was who wanted 
you!” teased Alice. 

Florence blushed slightly. Then, turning to their 
chaperone: 

“Mrs. -Remington, do you think it would be all 
right for us to go to dinner with Mr. McDaniel and 
Mr. Cry ton? You know they are taking us all to 
the theatre afterwards.” 

“Why yes,” assented the older woman. “I don’t 
see any objection.” 

Marjorie frowned imperceptibly; it was evidently 
to be a case of these two young men morning, noon, 
and night as long as they remained in Chicago. 

“How long are your friends to be in this city?” 
she inquired. 

“Oh, indefinitely,” replied Daisy. “They don’t 
expect to start west for a week or so.” 

“Then we shan’t see them again after this visit?” 
asked Ethel, without regret. 

“I hardly think so,” answered the other. 

This piece of information, however, made Mar¬ 
jorie decide that she would make an opportunity to 
question them about their whereabouts on Monday 
night. It was not that she really expected to learn 
an3^hing definite; nevertheless she felt that if they 


MOTOR TRIP 


99 


had played a practical joke on the girls by stealing 
the food, she might be able to embarrass them and 
thus conclude that they were guilty. Accordingly, 
she managed to secure a seat next to McDaniel at 
the theatre that evening, and when Daisy, who was 
next to him on the other side, was busy talking to 
Cryton, she seized her chance. 

“Have you heard about our robbery?” she asked, 
watching him closely. 

She thought that there was the least perception 
of a start in her companion’s facial expression. 

“Yes, Miss Evans told us at supper. It certainly 
was too bad.” 

“The part that puzzles us,” she continued, “is 
why anyone wealthy enough to own an automobile 
would steal such a cheap article as food.” 

“Your thieves were probably hungry!” laughed 
the young man. “I’ve known times in college when 
I felt so starved that I’d have been willing to steal I” 

“But not from helpless girls!” Marjorie protested. 

“I should say not! I wish instead that we had 
been near enough to come to your rescue. Here we 
were comfortably enjoying ourselves at a smoker— 
I recall the night, it had been such a disagreeable 
day—and we—” The rise of the curtain put an 
abrupt end to his sentence. “I hope the show is 
good,” he concluded, turning his attention to the 
stage. 


100 


THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 


When Marjorie later repeated the conversation to 
Ethel, she admitted that she had abandoned the idea 
of these young men being guilty. They might be 
silly and frivolous, but at least they had not set out 
to be mean. The alibi of the smoker was conclusive 
proof. 

But although she dismissed her suspicion concern¬ 
ing the two young men, she did not find that she 
liked them any better as the time passed. And much 
to her dismay the concensus of opinion was to delay 
the stay in the city another day on account of in¬ 
clement weather. Mar jorie and Ethel were the only 
ones opposed to the plan. 

“But it brings our surplus time down to five 
days!^’ she protested. “And weVe only gone half 
way.” 

“But nothing will go wrong,” argued Florence. 
“And that is what we have our extra time for—to 
rest during bad weather.” 

“But the weather isn’t very bad,” remarked 
Ethel. “It may be lots worse than this farther on.” 

“Well, no matter what it is like we will start on 
our way tomorrow.” 

“That reminds me,” said Daisy, “Mr. Cryton told 
me of a new short-cut to the Lincoln Highway. If 
we follow his directions, we can save from two to 
three hours.” 

Marjorie looked up hopefully at this piece of 


MOTOR TRIP 


101 


•news; indeed it seemed now as if her main object 
in life were to save time. If these young men sug¬ 
gested the means to accomplish this, they were not 
so useless after all. 

‘‘Did you get the exact directions she asked of 
Daisy. 

“Yes, Flos did. She made a little map and put it 
all down. Mr. Cryton said that about half a mile 
of the road was poor, but except for that little 
stretch, it is even better than the Lincoln High¬ 
way.” 

The others were all heartily in favor of following 
the directions, and early the next morning the party 
started off again. The weather had cleared again 
and the sun was shining brightly; but on the grass 
and in the road there was still evidence of the recent 
rain. Daisy sat beside the driver on the front seat 
of the larger car, and held the plan open in her 
hands, for all the scouts were anxious to make no 
mistake which might end in a delay. 

They followed a good macadam street for several 
miles to the outskirts of the city, then came to their 
first turning. It proved to be a dirt road—a rather 
narrow one at that—which sloped gradually down 
hill. 

“This must be the stretch of bad road which the 
boys mentioned,” remarked Marjorie. “It looks 
rather doubtful to me.” 


102 


THE GIKL SCOUTS^ 


‘‘Yes/’ returned Daisy, consulting her diagram. 
“This is the poor part.” 

“Had we better risk it?” asked Marjorie. 

“Surely!” cried two or three of the others. 

“Nobody can say that Girl Scouts are poor 
sports 1” added Florence, from the rear seat. 

Accordingly, Marjorie turned into it, and threw 
on the gas. The road, which would have been unin¬ 
viting in dry weather, appeared as they advanced to 
be almost a sea of mud after the recent rains. But 
the brave driver went resolutely ahead. 

Three or four minutes passed without anyone’s 
uttering a word, each was so busy silently watching 
the ruts and the road ahead. For a short distance 
the car proceeded reluctantly in high gear, but as 
they continued to descend, the accumulated rain 
water caused the road to become heavier, and Mar¬ 
jorie was forced to shift successively from high 
gear to second, and from second to low. It was 
with great difficulty that she kept the car going 
straight ahead; every time she steered out of the 
natural ruts in an attempt to find more solid ground, 
the rear of the car slithered around in first one 
direction and then another, till it looked at times as 
if they were about to slide into the ditches on either 
side of the road. Afraid to stop, for fear of being 
unable to start again, Marjorie kept the engine 
racing, yet they were making but little headway; the 


MOTOR TRIP 


103 


fear wheels revolved in the slippery mud as if upon 
a tread-mill. 

The girls sat there, fascinated and helpless, watch¬ 
ing Marjorie’s efforts. They were powerless to help 
her, and knew it; for she was by far the best driver 
among them. Daisy was the first to break the 
silence; it was she who felt responsible for bringing 
this misfortune upon the others. 

“It can’t be much farther,” she said. “At least, 
if this map is true to proportions.” 

Marjorie said nothing; all of her energy was 
directed in keeping the car in the middle of the road. 
The engine was exceedingly hot now, and the mud, 
instead of lessening, seemed to become even thicker, 
and she could feel the car slowing down under the 
strain as if it were giving out. She looked ahead and 
beheld, to her immense delight, that they had 
reached the lowest point of the road, and presumably 
the wost; for in the distance she could see that it 
ascended gradually, and in doing so, looked more 
substantial. 

The sight fired Marjorie anew. It was such a 
short distance to go! If she could only make it! 
She braced her aching shoulders and tired arms for 
a renewed effort. 

Ethel saw the look of determination on her face, 
and encouraged her. 

“Hang on, Marj, old scout!” she urged. “Don’t 


104 


THE GIEL SCOUTS^ 


give up the ship! Get us out of this and we'll invent 
a new merit badge to reward you with!" 

But the car, despite Marjorie, had made as much 
progress as it could; whether it was because the 
motor was overheated, or because they encountered 
an unusually deep rut, the engine, after a spasmodic 
pant or two, stopped dead, and the car settled back 
comfortably in the ooze. The girls let out a distress- 
ing groan. 

There was a moment of deep silence after the 
labored chugging of the engine had ceased, and 
then they heard Lily’s car churning behind them. 

‘‘Can’t you even pull over a little?” demanded 
Florence. “To let Lily’s car pass?” 

But it was too late. In turning out, Lily’s engine 
had also stalled, and the car came to a stop six or 
eight feet behind the other. The girls looked at 
each other in dismay. 

“Now this is a pretty muddle to get into!” called 
Lily, from the rear. 

“Mud-dle is good!” remarked someone; “but how 
are we to get out?” 

“Let her cool a while,” Ethel advised; “and then 
try her again.” 

“Some more of our precious time!” muttered 
Marjorie, peevishly, as she mopped the perspiration 
from her face. She could not help holding it against 
Daisy and Florence. 


MOTOR TRIP 


105 


Accordingly, they set themselves to the unpleasant 
task of waiting. After five minutes’ time, Marjorie 
decided to try again. But although the engine 
started bravely enough, the car stubbornly refused 
to move forward. The rear wheels, turning in the 
rut, sent forth a shower of mud, and since they 
would not take hold, only dug them in deeper. 
Repeated attempts proved fruitless, and were finally 
abandoned. 

''We’ll have to be towed out!” remarked Mar¬ 
jorie, grimly. 

"By whom?” asked Ethel. 

Marjorie shrugged her shoulders; she could not 
see much hope. 

"Maybe one of the farm-houses has a horse—” 
she began. 

"Girls!” cried Alice, abruptly. "Look who are 
coming towards us!” 

"Who?” demanded everyone instantly. All eyes 
strained in the direction of the good road, far ahead 
of them. 

"I do believe it’s the boys!” cried Daisy, gleefully. 

"The mysterious car!” laughed Alice. 

"They had better not come near us!” muttered 
Ethel. "They are not in high favor.” 

"But if they can help us—” suggested Daisy. 

"We couldn’t accept it, and we wouldn’t!” an- 


106 


THE GIEL SCOUTS’ 


nounced Marjorie, decisively. ‘'Don't forget our 
regulations!" 

“My gracious, I had forgotten," Daisy admitted. 

The young men were near enough to wave to the 
girls now, and they stopped their car close to the 
muddy piece of road and got out. Then, cautiously 
picking their way, they advanced to the standing 
machines. 

“I should think you two would be ashamed to 
show your faces!" Florence called, accusingly, as 
soon as they were within hearing distance. 

Instantly both men were all apologies; they ex¬ 
plained that they knew the road only in dry weather, 
when it had not been impassible; then, when they 
had come across another muddy road that morning, 
they realized what this one could be, and hastened 
with all speed to the scouts' rescue, should they be 
needed. 

“But we told you before that we couldn't accept 
help from men," Florence explained. 

“I know—^but this is different!" protested Cryton. 
“This is serious." 

“Please let us try to tow you out!" urged Mc¬ 
Daniel. “Our engine is a mighty powerful one." 

“No!" replied Marjorie, stubbornly. “Never! 
I'd rather leave the cars and go back home." And 
from the expression on her face, the men knew 
that she meant what she said. 


MOTOR TRIP 


107 


“But you can’t wait here all day,” objected Cry- 
ton. 

“No,” answered Marjorie, opening the door of 
her car. “I am going to the nearest farm house.” 

“And Fm going with you!” cried Ethel, always 
on the alert for action. 

The girls picked their way through the sticky 
mud, often sinking ankle deep into its depths. But 
their shoes were stout and their stockings of wool, 
so they did not mind. 

Meanwhile the men took their seats in the car, 
and used every argument they could think of to 
induce the scouts to change their minds. But they 
might as well have saved their breath; fifteen 
minutes later when Marjorie and Ethel returned, 
they had not made any progress. 

“What success?” demanded Alice, expectantly. 

“None!” replied Marjorie, with a dismal smile. 

“You didn’t find a farm house?” 

“Yes, we did.” 

“But they had no big horses ?” 

“Yes, they had some splendid horses.” 

“Marj, tell us!” cried Florence, in exasperation. 

“Wouldn’t they come out and help us ?” 

“Yes, they would,” answered Marjorie sadly. 
“That’s the worst of it. They were both willing and 
capable of helping. But they were men!*^ 

The girls all groaned at the mention of this re- 


108 


THE GIEL SCOUTS^ 


striction, which seemed to thwart them at every 
point. McDaniel and Cryton were unfeeling enough 
to laugh out loud. 

nice place to camp—^here in the mud!’’ re¬ 
marked the latter, sarcastically. “And just sit 
around and wait for dry weather—” 

“Hush!” remonstrated Florence, in irritation. It 
was bad enough to be in such a plight without be¬ 
ing taunted about it. 

“Then you will accept our help?” asked Mc¬ 
Daniel seriously. “You might as well let us do 
something as to allow strangers.” 

“No,” replied Marjorie, firmly; “because we’re 
going to help ourselves!” 

The men opened their eyes wide in astonish- 
m.ent. 

“But how?” demanded Cryton, incredulously. 

“I would prefer to have you people drive on first,” 
said Marjorie, coldly, instead of answering the 
young man’s question. “I wouldn’t want it even 
to look as if you were helping us.” 

“Certainly,” answered McDaniel, who seemed to 
be the more courteous of the two. 

Marjorie resumed her seat in the car and said 
nothing more until the red racer was out of sight. 
Then she explained her plan briefly. 

“Do you see that broken fence over there?” she 
asked. “I mean to take two of those rails, put them 


MOTOR TRIP 


109 


under the back wheels, and start the eng^ine. If 
everything works as I think, well be out of here in 
less than five minutes.” 

Without any further delay the girls obtained their 
rails, all of them remaining out of the car until the 
experiment was over. Marjorie took her seat at 
the wheel and started the engine. To the supreme 
delight of all the scouts the car gave a mighty lurch 
and started forward! Two minutes later it reached 
the solid ground. 

“Now to help Lily!” cried Marjorie, jumping out 
of her machine. 

The smaller car proved equally easy to move; as 
the girl had promised, they were on their way again 
in less than five minutes’ time. 

“And I hope we pass the red car again!” cried 
Alice, triumphantly. “J^st so we can tell those 
young men—” 

“Something tells me,’* remarked Ethel, enigmatic¬ 
ally, we are due to hear from them again!” 

“I agreed with you!” added Marjorie, stonily. 


110 


THE GIEL SCOUTS’ 




CHAPTER X. 

AN APPEAL FOR HELP. 

It was the fifteenth of July when the Girl Scouts 
of Pansy Troop left the town of Rawlins, in Wyo¬ 
ming, and struck out towards the desert. All had 
been going well since their encounter with the mud 
outside of Chicago; they had travelled on schedule 
time, meeting with no delays of any sort. Nor 
had they seen anything of the red car since that 
last encounter; perhaps the men were really no¬ 
where in the vicinity, as they had said; or perhaps 
they knew that they were in high disfavor. Even 
Daisy and Florence forbore to mention their names 
to the other girls. ^ 

Now only two weeks more of their time remained, - 
but, according to all their calculations they believed' 
that they could cover the ground in ten days. Even 
Ethel and Marjorie felt extremely optimistic with 
their five days to the good. 

They came to the desert—a vast expanse of gray 
and brown sand, where water was so scarce that it 
was sometimes sold at the railroad stations. Ther- 


MOTOR TRIP 


111 


was very little of interest to be seen along the way; 
now and again they noticed the dried-up carcasses 
of sheep and cattle which had probably been killed 
in the severe storms that raged in the winter. Once 
they had to stop for a long freight train, whose con¬ 
ductor waved friendly greetings, pleased it seemed, 
to see some human beings in this lonely place. And 
many times the girls noticed the remains of former 
camps. 

Food and water were both scarce, so they held 
on to what they had, fearful lest their former mis¬ 
fortune might be repeated. But, when they had 
been travelling steadily forward for two days across 
the desert without any signs of being molested, 
they began to feel that they would go the rest of 
the way in safety. 

“Wouldn't it be great if we could drive up to the 
ranch," observed Marjorie, as they passed over the 
ground nearly south of it. “Only two years ago—'* 

“Ah, if we only had the time!" sighed Ethel. 
“How I should love to see my old horse!" 

“Well, we have five days,’’ Alice reminded them. 
“Why not use them ?" 

“Because something tells me that we shall need 
every single one of them yet," responded Marjorie. 
“Whether it is fate, or whether Aunt Emeline 
actually has arranged obstacles for our path, it just 
seems as if we have so many delays to meet— 


112 


THE GIKL SCOUTS’ 


^‘But how could Aunt Emeline do anything 
interrupted Alice. “Remember her age!” 

“Well, anyway, we’re not wasting any time! 
WeVe kept all the other regulations—not taken help 
from any men, and lived within our allowance, and 
worn our uniforms all the time—we mustn’t slip up 
on our time. So let’s go as straight as we can to 
San Francisco!” 

“Marjorie,” put in Mrs. Remington, “don’t you 
think we had better stop soon? It’s getting dark, 
and you know how hard it is to make camp without 
being able to see what we are doing.” 

“Besides,” added Alice, “I’m about starved.” 

Marjorie glanced at her speedometer before re- 
plying. 

“But we have only made seventy-two miles to¬ 
day,” she said. “And you know our resolution to 
cover a hundred!” 

“Remember that this is the desert!” Florence re¬ 
minded her; “And we can’t expect—” She stopped 
abruptly, her attention drawn by the loud sobs of a 
woman, coming from an abandoned wagon by the 
side of the road. Marjorie too heard the weeping 
and instinctively stopped her car a few feet beyond. 
The scouts looked at each other in doubt as to their 
proper course of action. 

“Ask her whether we can help,” whispered Alice 
to Mrs. Remington. 


MOTOR TRIP 


iia 


“Maybe the child is hurt/^ suggested Florence. 
“There is a child beside her, isn’t there?” 

“Yes, I think so,” replied Mrs. Remington. “And 
perhaps I had better get out.’’ 

The girls watched their leader in admiration as 
she walked back to the stranger and offered as¬ 
sistance in her tactful, reassuring tone. The woman’s 
sobs ceased, and though the scouts were too polite 
to look around, they knew that Mrs. Remington 
had made herself welcome. 

“But you’re goin’ the wrong way!” protested the 
woman. “And it’s gettin’ awful dark now.” 

As she uttered these words the smaller car pulled 
up behind the wagon and came to a stop. Mrs. 
Remington nodded briefly to the girls and went on 
with her conversation. 

“But I do wish you would tell me your trouble,” 
she pleaded. “Is—your little girl hurt?” 

The stranger bent tenderly over the sleeping form 
at her side. 

“No, not hurt,” she answered; “but sick. She’s 
got a fever.” 

“But how do you happen to be here ?” 

“Our boss up and died on us, and me husband 
started to walk to our shack—about forty mile on a 
piece.- That was yesterday noon. But we have so 
little food, and less water—” 

‘‘We can help you out!” cried Ethel, who had 


114 


"the GIKL SCOUTS' 


been listening from the driver^s seat of the small 
car. “We have lots—” 

“But me child may die before me husband gets 
back with another boss! It’s a doctor we want—” 
She broke into sobs again—“or a comfortable 
bed—” 

Mrs. Remington’s^eart was sincerely touched; 
she hesitated no longer, for she knew that the scouts 
would be with her to a girl. They would sacrifice 
some of their surplus time and money to drive the 
child to safety. 

“We will take you to your husband,” she volun¬ 
teered; “at least if you are willing to leave your 
wagon here.” 

A look of intense gratitude crossed the woman’s 
face. 

“You mean to say you would go forty mile out of 
yer way, just to help a woman you have never seen 
before?” she asked, incredulously. 

“Why certainly!” exclaimed Lily. “We’re Girl 
Scouts, and they have to do good turns every day.” 

“And what are Girl Scouts?” inquired the woman, 
wearily, but the girls knew from her tone that she 
was not really desirous of an explanation. Instead. 
Marjorie suggested action. 

“Let’s start immediately,” she said. Then 
turning to the other girls, she added, ^Tt ought to 


MOTOR TRIP 


115 


cost US only one day, and you know we have five to 
spare/’ 

Both cars turned about and started again towards 
the east. Travelling at night, which was never a 
pleasure to the girls, seemed doubly difficult in the 
desert; yet Marjorie felt that they did not dare 
wait until the morning; for, even though they might 
be able to afford the time, she understood the neces¬ 
sity of getting the sick child to safety. So she 
pressed resolutely on, and said nothing of her hun¬ 
ger pangs. 

After they had been driving an hour or so, how¬ 
ever, Mrs. Remington felt that it would be unwise 
to go further without food, and suggested that they 
stop and make a hasty meal. The scouts were all 
heartily in favor of this proposition. 

‘‘How about you ?” asked Mrs. Remington, turn¬ 
ing to the stranger. 

“A bite to eat would taste mighty good,” she re¬ 
sponded, wearily. 

They pulled up the cars by the road side, and 
took out their folding stove. If they were to con¬ 
tinue on their way during the night, they would need 
coffee and substantial food to re-enforce them. 

While Lily and Marjorie were unpacking the 
hamper, Alice spread a blanket on the seat for the 
sleeping child. To her surprise, however, the little 


116 


THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 


girl awoke and immediately began to manifest a 
remarkable interest in the whole proceeding. 

It was Mrs. Remington who first began to doubt 
the truth of the woman’s story. 

don’t believe that your litle girl has any fever, 
Mrs.— ?” She stopped for the stranger to supply 
her name. 

“Hook,” answered the latter, briefly. 

“But I’ll get my thermometer—lit’s right here in 
the kit,” she continued. 

She wiped the little instrument off, and inserted it 
between the child’s lips. A minute later she an¬ 
nounced that her temperature was normal. 

“Are you hungry ?” she asked the little girl. 

“You bet!” replied the child, without the slightest 
hesitation. 

It was after the meal was over that Mrs. Reming¬ 
ton confided her suspicions to Marjorie. 

“That little girl isn’t sick at all,” she whispered; 
“it was merely a ruse to get us to drive them back. 
Still, I’m not sorry that we are doing it—” 

“No, a night alone in the desert isn’t particularly 
enviable,” remarked the young lieutenant. “And be¬ 
sides, she seemed awfully poor.” 

Less than an hour had elapsed before the girls 
were back in their cars again, resigned to the under¬ 
taking they had assumed. The weary monotony of 
the desert stretched before them, but they did not 


MOTOR TRIP 


117 


flinch. Each girl took her turn at the wheel, drove 
for an hour, and wakened the next in turn. Mar¬ 
jorie alone had been keeping watch on the speed¬ 
ometer; she did not want to pass the shack that was 
to be their destination without knowing it. 

She was driving herself when the thirty-five mile 
mark was passed, and she began to scan the distance 
eagerly for some sign of a structure. Yet she con¬ 
tinued to see nothing except the monotonous ex¬ 
panse of gray sand in every direction. Tired as she 
was, she began to question the existence of such a 
shack as the woman had mentioned. How would it 
be possible, she thought, for a family to live in the 
desert, to own a shack only forty miles away from 
the place where the wagon was standing ? Gradual¬ 
ly as the speedometer crept on to the forty mark, 
her suspicions became verified; there was no struc¬ 
ture of any sort within sight. Nevertheless she re¬ 
solved to arouse the stranger and ask her for in¬ 
formation. 

She waited until they came to a station of the 
railroad—a lonely, forsaken building—and brought 
her car to a stop. 

“Is this where you wanted to go?*’ she asked, 
leaning back and touching Mrs. Hook’s knee. “We 
have gone forty-three miles.” 

The woman raised her head and looked about 
wearily. 


118 


THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 


‘'Land! No! Th!is a’int half way! There must 
be somethin’ ailin’ your dock.” 

"No there isn’t!” replied Marjorie. "How much 
farther is it?” 

"Not so very far, I reckon. I’ll watch and tell 
you!” 

With a tired sigh, Marjorie turned to the wheel 
again, and drove until her time was up. Then she 
resigned her place to the next in turn, and she to 
the next, until the darkness faded into a gray, and 
the gray into dawn. If the girls had not been so 
utterly worn-out, they might have been thrilled 
at the sight of the sunrise; as it was, they scarcely 
noticed it. 

At six o’clock Lily stopped the big car. 

"We’ll have to get some sleep!” she declared— 
"Before it gets too hot—or we’ll be dead!” 

"You’re right,” agreed Mrs. Remington, wearily. 
She had long ago begun to doubt the wisdom of their 
proceeding. 

The girls climbed out of the car and stretched 
themselves on their blankets in its shadow. But 
they could not sleep long; the heat soon grew too 
intense, and they began to feel hungry. While 
Alice and Lily were preparing a hasty breakfast, 
Mrs. Remington and Marjorie and Ethel took coun¬ 
cil together. 

"It’s my opinion,” observed Ethel caustically, 


MOTOR TRIP 


119 


“that this woman is making a good thing of us—for 
free passage across the desert 

“I wouldn’t be a bit surprised,” said Marjorie. 
“And yet you can’t blame her. She’s poor and 
deserted—” 

“Marj, would you make a pun at a time like this !’^ 
remonstrated Ethel. “Why, you’re almost talking 
in your sleep!” 

“And the child isn’t a bit sick,” added Mrs. Rem¬ 
ington, with an attempt to bring the girls back to 
the subject in question. “And yet—what can we do? 
Not leave them here in the middle of the desert—?” 

“It’s where we found them!” flashed Ethel. 

“But at least they had a wagon!” put in Marjorie. 
“No, let’s take her all the way—wherever it is—” 

“She expects to go all the way back to Rawlins!” 
remarked Ethel. “That’s her scheme—” 

“I know—^but—well, if she didn’t have a child 
it would be different. No, let’s take her back to 
civilization.” 

In the end Marjorie won. All day long they con¬ 
tinued to drive eastward at a greater rate of speed, 
contenting themselves with crackers and fruit for 
luncheon in order to save time. At nine o’clock that 
evening they pulled into Rawlins, and went straight 
to the hotel. In spite of her feeling that Mrs. Hook 
had been deceiving them, Marjorie invited her and 
her child to remain there all night at her expense. 


120 THE GIKL SCOUTS^ 

Mrs. Hook, however, refused to take advantage 
of the offer. 

“I expect to find some money waiting for me 
here, thank you,’' she replied, stepping up to the 
desk. 

“Money!” gasped Marjorie, scrutinizing the wo¬ 
man in amazement. “Then it was Rawlins where 
you expected to come to all the time—and not a 
shack in the desert?” 

Mrs. Hook nodded, shame-facedly. 

“And you did mean to deceive us?” 

Again the woman acquiesced. 

Marjorie looked chagrined, and said nothing 
more; but she remained at her side while she waited 
for the clerk. 

“Any mail for Mrs. Hook?” she asked. 

The young man produced an envelope, which, 
however, bore no stamp or postmark, and she opened 
it eagerly, yet cautiously, and peered inside. But 
she was not quick enough, for before she had slipped 
it into her bag, Marjorie had identified the contents 
as a one-hundred dollar bill! The girl was never 
so puzzled in her life. 

Turning hastily away, she joined the rest of the 
party just as they were entering the dining-room, 
and managed to secure a seat next to Ethel. As 
soon as her opportunity came, she confided the news 
to her. 


MOTOR TRIP 


121 


“There^s something queer about that woman/’ re¬ 
marked her companion when she had heard Mar¬ 
jorie’s story. ‘‘I guessed all along that she wasn’t 
straight.” 

“What I would like to find out,” said Marjorie, 
“is whether she is just an ordinary sponger, or 
somebody set on our track. Now, we have two 
mysteries to solve—this and the one of the stolen 
food!” 

“Perhaps,” remarked Ethel, “when we meet Aunt 
Emeline she’ll have something to say.” 

“If only we get there on time!” sighed Marjorie. 
“Three more of our extra days are gone!” 

“And yet,” added Ethel, “we still have two to the 
good!” 


122 


THE GIKL SCOUTS^ 


CHAPTER XL 

SALT LAKE CITY. 

The weary monotony of the ride across the desert 
was to be broken; the Girl Scouts had decided to 
use one of their surplus days at Salt Lake City. 
They wanted to get more than a fleeting glimpse 
of the picturesque beauty of which they had heard 
so much, and they longed to swim in Great Salt 
Lake, where, according to all accounts, one could not 
sink. 

The girls gave over their morning to sight-seeing, 
and, though they were making use of the lovely 
shady camp grounds provided by the city, they de¬ 
termined to eat their noon meal at a hotel, in order 
that they might feel rested for the afternoon’s 
swim. 

They stopped at the post-oflice to inquire for mail, 
and were not disappointed, for the clerk handed 
them a sizeable bundle. Florence and Daisy ex¬ 
pressed particular eagerness. 

“Well, when do you see them again?” asked 


MOTOR TRIP 


123 


Alice, watching Daisy’s countenance as she perused 
a fat letter. 

“See whom?” demanded the girl, blushing. 

“You know—the occupants of the red car.” 

“When we get to California—probably the second 
of August. Isn’t that what your letter says, Flos ?” 

“Yes, Mr. Cryton is going to be waiting on the 
doorstep when we take the milk bottles in in the 
morning,” laughed Florence, reading an extract 
from her letter. “But say, won’t it be great to have 
them help us with our new cars when wet get them! 
For I don’t put much stock in those two nephews!” 

“Neither do I” agreed Alice; “they sound as if 
they were sort of wishy-washy—the kind that wait 
around for somebody else’s money! But do you 
really think we’re going to get there in time?” 

“I hope so. But both Marj and Ethel seem wor¬ 
ried, and that’s a bad sign.” 

“What’s a bad sign?” questioned Marjorie, look¬ 
ing up from her letter at the mention of her own 
name. 

“That you don’t like our friends of the red car 1” 
returned Florence. “Because you know that you 
don’t, Marj!” 

“No, I’ll admit that I don’t care a lot about 
them,” replied the other truthfully. “My brother 
didn’t like them much cither—^he asked about them 


124 


THE GIEL SCOUTS^ 


in this letter, and hoped that you hadn't allowed 
them to get too intimate." 

can’t see that it concerns him—or John Hadley 
either!" flashed Florence, angrily. “Why they 
should they take it upon themselves—" 

“Please don’t play grandma!" put in Daisy, im¬ 
ploringly. 

“All right—anything so that you hurry and give 
us plenty of time at the lake." 

It was not long before the girls were in their 
tents again, preparing for the excursion of the after¬ 
noon. Marjorie was the first to be dressed, and 
she took the time to survey her uniform while she 
waited for the others. 

“Girls," she remarked dismally, “don’t you think 
this is a sorry sight? Oughtn’t we to be washing 
them again?" 

“Mine is awfully dirty," agreed Lily; “I’m ready 
to join you!" 

“You don’t mean to wash them in the Lake?" de¬ 
manded Alice. 

“No," laughed Marjorie; “I only meant we had 
better do them soon." 

“Yes, because we’ll have to wear them when we 
meet Aunt Emeline!’’ 

“We better have them on then!" put in Florence. 
“Well, let’s do it after our bath." 

“No, we may be too tired then," said Marjorie. 


MOTOR TRIP 


125 


‘‘Let’s wash them now, before we go, and hang 
them out to dry. Then we’ll have them ready, in 
case it should rain tonight.” 

The resolution was adopted by all members of the 
party, and one by one the girls appeared from the 
tents and set about their self-appointed tasks. In 
half an hour they were finished, and Girl Scout uni¬ 
forms hung about on all sides, testifying to their 
labor. They surveyed the result in amusement. 

“Nobody would need to ask who we were,” re¬ 
marked Daisy. 

“We’re certainly carrying out Aunt Emeline’s 
orders to the letter,” added Alice. “We’re display¬ 
ing our uniforms all the time, one way or another 
—even when they’re wet!” 

Mrs. Remington and Daisy had volunteered to 
stay at home and take care of the tents while the 
party went to the lake, for both said that they were 
tired and would be glad of the opportunity to rest. 
Therefore, dismissing worry from their minds, the 
other five girls drove off in the larger car and spent 
a most enjoyable afternoon, floating and swimming 
in the extremely salt water. They returned refreshed 
and invigorated. 

“We’ll have to do some ironing tonight,” ob¬ 
served Marjorie as they returned to the camp. “Be¬ 
cause we can’t all use the iron tomorrow.” 


126 


THE GIEL SCOUTS’ 


**But we’re staying here all night tomorrow, 
aren’t we?” asked Ethel. 

“Yes, that’s true. I wonder whether the uni¬ 
forms are dry.” 

“They must be,” replied Alice, shading her eyes 
with her hand in order to get a view of their tent. 
“I see our tents, but not any uniforms!” 

“Mrs. Remington must have taken them in,” con¬ 
cluded Marjorie. “Well, they weren’t so very orna¬ 
mental.” 

“Evidently she didn’t take much of a nap,” re¬ 
marked Ethel. 

They were surprised, therefore, as they entered 
the tent, to find their chaperone still asleep on her 
cot. Naturally inferring that it was Daiisy who had 
looked after their uniforms, they went in search of 
her. But she too was asleep in her tent. 

“Let’s get dressed first,” suggested Marjorie; 
“and find out about them later. It would be a shame 
to waken Mrs. Remington—” 

“What’s this?” called the latter, from within the 
adjoining tent. “I am awake—I just heard you 
come.” 

“Good!” exclaimed Alice. “It certainly was nice 
of you to take in our uniforms—” 

“Your uniforms?” repeated Mrs. Remington, 
questioningly. “But I didn’t touch them! I’ve been 
asleep ever since you left!” 


MOTOR TRIP 


127 


“Then Daisy did/’ said Marjorie. “Oh—O— 

Dais!” 

“Yes?” came a sleepy voice. 

“Did you take in our uniforms?” 

“No—I’ve been asleep!” 

“But they’re gone!” cried Ethel, in dismay. 

The girls looked at each other in obvious con¬ 
sternation. This was a catastrophe which they 
had never dreamed of—and a serious one. For if 
they travelled in civilian dress they would be break¬ 
ing one of the regulations that Miss Vaughn had so 
carefully stipulated. 

“What could have happened to them ?” demanded 
Alice, hysterically. “Who would want to steal 
them?” 

“Nobody but a troop of Girl Scouts, and they 
wouldn’t,” reasoned Marjorie. 

“Or a rag-man!” suggested Ethel. 

“And they could hardly blow away,” continued 
Marjorie; “there isn’t any wind!” 

“Still, we didn’t have any clothes-pins,” observed 
Florence, solemnly. “I knew you forgot something, 
Marj—” 

“Come, girls, we’ll have to hurry and dress, and 
do something!” commanded Ethel. “Let’s each take 
a direction and inquire all over the grounds!” 

The girls lost no time in carrying out this sug¬ 
gestion; but an hour later they returned without 


128 


THE GIEL SCOUTS’ 


any information. Mrs. Remington realized how 
tired and discouraged they were, and urged that all 
discussion of plans be deferred until dinner. 

They went to the same hotel at which they had 
lunched, and ordered an elaborate dinner. The 
spaciousness of the dining-room, the calm, leisurely 
attitude of the other diners, and the delicacy of the 
food and the service, rested and refreshed them; 
by the time that the salad course was brought in. 
they felt ready to consider their disaster and to 
plan a way out. Marjorie was the first to offer a 
solution. 

‘^Of course we can’t buy new uniforms, since this 
is Friday night, and the stores are closed all day 
Saturday; but can’t we borrow some from another 
troop? There must be Girl Scouts in Salt Lake 
City.” 

This idea, however, did not meet with instan¬ 
taneous approval. Several of the girls looked doubt¬ 
ful, and Florence laughed harshly. 

‘^Marj, have you forgotten that we’re grown¬ 
ups?” she demanded. ‘‘And that most Girl Scouts 
are ten or twelve years of age! Their suits would 
come to our knees!” 

“We could let out the hems—^and select the long¬ 
est ones,” protested Marjorie. “It could be done.” 

“Yes,” said Mrs, Remington thoughtfully, “and I 


MOTOR TRIP 


129 


think it is the only thing that could be done to save 
us. We’ll have to find the nearest troop.” 

‘There ought to be some of them meeting to¬ 
night/’ remarked Alice. “Friday is usually popu¬ 
lar.” 

“But how to find them?” 

“We won’t give up till we do! We’ll ask every¬ 
body we see!” 

In spite of the opposition at first, the plan was 
adopted, and as soon as the meal was concluded, 
the girls hastened to try it out. It proved to be 
much less difficult than they had anticipated; the 
very first person of whom they inquired—^the clerk 
at the hotel desk—told them that his daughter was 
a Girl Scout, and that her troop met on Friday 
evenings. Marjorie and Ethel both wrote down the 
directions he gave them for finding its meeting place. 

Without even waiting to return to their camp, the 
girls set out immediately on their quest, which led 
them to a remote part of the city, off the main roads. 
Carefully following their explicit directions, they 
pulled up at last in front of a little church, and saw 
by the light in the basement that a meeting was in 
session. 

In less than a minute the girls were out of both 
cars, running down the steps to the entrance. The 
door was open and the scouts, who happened to 
be seated in patrols, and busy with some kind of 


130 


THE GIRL SCOUTS^ 


hand-craft, looked up excitedly as the girls filed in. 
The captain came forward smiling. 

In a few words, but with infinite tact, Mrs. Rem¬ 
ington told the story and put forth her plea for their 
help. She offered, of course, a good price for the 
uniforms—sufficient to compensate the scouts for 
the bother of purchasing new ones. To the travel- 
lors' intense relief, the scouts accepted the proposi¬ 
tion immediately. 

‘‘Of course we are glad to help our sister scouts/' 
replied the captain. “But do 3 rou think the urtiforms 
will be long enough?” 

“Have you a senior patrol ?” inquired Mrs. Rem¬ 
ington. 

“Yes—girls over fourteen!” 

“Well, let us try them. Could the girls run 
home and get some other clothing?” 

“Why certainly,” agreed the captain, nodding to 
the scouts to go. “Run along quickly!” 

“Wait!” interposed Marjorie. “We have two 
cars out there! We can drive you and save time.” 

“But it's hardly more than across the street,” 
replied the patrol leader graciously. “And we'll 
only be a minute.” 

Hardly were they out of the door before they re¬ 
turned to the room. 

“Didn't you say that you had two cars?” asked 
the patrol leader, addressing Marjorie. 


MOTOR TRIP 


131. 


“Yes. Why?” 

“There is only one out there now!” 

“Which one ?” demanded Lily, in alarm. 

“A big one—seven passenger!” 

“And mine is gone ?” gasped the distressed owner. 
“You are sure?” 

Alice suddenly let out a shriek. 

“It’s all my fault, Lil—I forgot to lock it, in my 
haste to get in! Oh, I’m so sorry—” 

“Will you want our uniforms just the same?” in¬ 
terrupted the patrol leader, realizing that time would 
now be too precious to waste. 

“Yes,” replied Marjorie with determination. 
“This doesn’t alter our desire to win. We’ll go at it 
even harder— 

The patrol leader did not wait to hear the end of 
the sentence, but hurried her girls back for their 
dresses, while the tourists rushed out to make sure 
that the other car was safe. 

“We can still finish our trip in the one big car,’^ 
said Mrs. Remington, “provided that we put out all 
our camping outfit, and stay at hotels every night 
till we reach the coast.” 

“Then let’s give our camping things to this nice 
little troop,” suggested Lily, who had decided to 
accept her loss philosophically. 

“And start tomorrow instead of waiting over an¬ 
other day,” added Marjorie. 


132 


THE GIRL SCOUTS^ 


Half an hour later the girls dressed again in the 
scout uniforms, the fit of which was better than 
they had anticipated, all got into the big car and 
waved goodbye to their new friends, reminding them 
to come to the grounds early in the morning for the 
outfit. They drove back to their tents, somewhat 
subdued in spirits; the victory in gaining the suits 
was balanced by the defeat in losing the car. But, 
as Ethel reminded them, there was one compensa¬ 
tion: for the rest of the trip they could all travel 
together !*’ 


MOTOR TRIP 


133 


CHAPTER XII. 

GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD. 

California at last! 

To most of the girls, who had never been farther 
west than Wyoming, this state, with its renowned 
climate and its beautiful scenery, appeared even love¬ 
lier than they had pictured it. The mountains and 
canyons, the wonderful Yosemite Valley with its 
tall trees; the great stretches of smooth road, seemed 
like heaven after the desert. For a time the travel¬ 
lers forgot their losses, their anxiety, and even their 
rewards in their admiration of the country. 

It was Marjorie who first brought their thoughts 
back to the practical side of life. 

‘‘Girls, how many of you would be willing to keep 
on going for a couple of hours after supper? It 
doesn't get dark for a good while, and since we 
haven't any camp to pitch, we might as well make 
use of every minute. We can't afford to waste any 
time, you know!" 

“That's a splendid idea!" cried'Ethel. “Only one 


134 


THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 


thing I beg—let’s be sure to get the car into a 
garage for the night!” 

“Maybe we better insure it,” suggested Lily. “For 
if this one were stolen, we would be left.” 

“We wouldn’t be left,” returned Ethel. “Because 
we’d manage to get there somehow, even if we had 
to hike!” 

“But then we wouldn’t earn our automobiles!” 

“So we’d have to walk back,” concluded Marjorie. 
“Well, girls, we’ll see to it that we don’t lose this 
car. Now—^to go back to my first suggestion, what 
do you say to a little ride after supper?” 

To her joy she found all the others heartily in 
favor of the proposition; so after a good substantial 
meal, they set off again in the early twilight. 

“How long shall we drive?” asked Alice, who 
was taking her turn at the wheel. 

“Till about nine o’clock I should suggest,” said 
Mrs. Remington. “The first good-looking hotel 
after that—” 

“With a garage!” put in Lily. 

“Yes, with a garage. At least if we find that we 
can secure rooms. And if we can’t, we’ll drive on.” 

“Just as long as we don’t have to drive all night,” 
remarked Marjorie. “Like that night we met the 
woman and the sick child.” 

“The child that wasn’t sick, you mean,” corrected 
Alice. 


MOTOR TRIP 


135 


The girls drove along merrily; indeed, it seemed 
almost as if the theft of the smaller car had not 
been a misfortune, so enjoyable it was never to be 
separated. They watched the sun set beneath the 
horizon; then, in a few minutes, the cars which they 
passed began to show lights, and they realized that 
evening was coming on. A little after dark they 
came to a broken piece of the road where a detour 
was necessary. Alice stopped short in time to let the 
girls make a decision. 

‘^Shall we go on?’* she asked. 

“It just depends,” observed Marjorie, “upon how 
far the detour lasts. If it keeps up off the main road 
for a good distance, I should say that we had better 
turn back to that hotel we just passed.” 

“No! No!” protested Alice. “Don’t let’s do that 
—when time is so precious!” 

“But if we don’t know where we are goifig—” 
objected Lily. 

“On! On!” cried Florence, dramatically. “We 
want to get to the coast!” 

“And what care we for danger?” challenged 
Alice. 

A daring spirit of adventure seemed to have taken 
possession of the little party, for they one and all 
agreed that they wanted to press on. Alice gladly 
turned to the wheel again, and released her brakes. 

They continued on the same road for about fif- 


136 


THE GIRL SCOUTS^ 


teen minutes; all the while the cars which they 
passed became fewer and fewer, and the road more 
narrow and rough. Then they began to look 
anxiously for detour signs, or for a hotel; but 
neither appeared. Finally Alice declared that she 
knew that they were lost. 

“Here's a building with a light—^let's stop here 
and inquire!" she suggested. “Probably they can 
direct us back to the Lincoln Highway." 

“But we won't all go in and leave the car alone 
this time," remarked Florence, with a significant 
glance at Alice. “The same thief might come along 
again!" 

“I'll go and ask," volunteered Mrs. Remington. 

She disappeared into the building, and the girls 
fell to discussing their misfortunes, and the possi¬ 
bility of regaining any of their lost property. They 
had reported the theft of the Rolls-Royce at Salt 
Lake City, but they hardly expected to hear of it 
again; the food and the uniforms they counted as 
gone forever. 

The conversation dragged, for the girls were 
growing tired; they could think of nothing but their 
desire to find lodging for the night. They began to 
look impatiently for Mrs. Remington. 

“I do wish she'd hurry!" yawned Florence. “I'm 
beginning to feel pretty sleepy!" 


MOTOR TRIP 


137 


only we had our camping outfit!*’ mourned 
Alice. “We could go to bed right here!” 

“Girls, Mrs. Remington is coming out now!” 
Marjorie informed them. “Look—and some 
children are with her!” 

“These girls don’t know a thing about the Lin¬ 
coln Highway,” said Mrs. Remington when she 
reached the car, “but they are so anxious to hear 
something about the Girl Scouts that I thought may¬ 
be we could go in and let them see our uniforms, 
and do a little signalling—” 

“But we’re dirty, and tired,’* grumbled Florence. 
“We can give them the Headquarters’ address—” 

“Do a good turn daily!” murmured Alice, under 
her breath. 

“We’ll be delighted!” announced Marjorie, im¬ 
mediately. “At least, if you girls can assure us of 
finding some place to stay for the night.” 

“Oh, somebody will surely take you in!” their 
leader told them. “There is a boarding house about 
half a mile up the road.” 

“Then let Lily and me stay and watch the car,” 
urged Florence. “The rest of you go in—we don’t 
dare take any chances!” 

Putting aside their own sense of fatigue, the girls 
followed the children back to the building, and 
gave them a thorough demonstration of scouting, 
explaining as they proceeded. Their audience was 


138 


THE GIBL SCOUTS’ 


thrilled; with shining eyes they follo\7ed every de* 
tail, and showed such intense gratitude that the 
girls forgot all about their weariness. 

It was after ten o’clock when they finally left the 
building and climbed into the machine once more. 
Florence had turned it around, and sat at the wheel 
in readiness. They all felt that it would be best to 
get back to the Lincoln Highway again, and there 
hunt for a place to spend the night, instead of risk¬ 
ing the unknown boarding-house the children had 
mentioned. 

It was not, however, such an easy task as they 
had hoped; in the darkness they failed to recognize 
any of the land-marks which they had noted in the 
twilight, and because of the roughness of the road 
they were forced to proceed slowly and carefully. 

‘T think we have passed it,” remarked Florence, 
after they had been driving for some time. 

“But we couldn't have!” protested Alice. “Even 
in the dark we would be able to see any road crossine 
this.” 

“Then weVe strayed on to another road. Fm 
sure we weren't so far from the highway; we should 
have crossed it long ago.'’ 

“And I’m sure there was no road leading from 
this that we could stray into,” insisted Alice. 

“Then why don’t we come to it?” 


MOTOR TRIP 


139 


Maybe Aunt Emeline had It moved back a few 
miles, just to annoy us,” suggested Ethel. 

“I think you’re all wrong,” said Lily. ‘T’ve 
noticed before, when driving at night, that if you’re 
looking for a road it always seems farther away.” 

“Lily’s right,” agreed Marjorie. “Of course we 
came out lots faster than we are going back; we 
could see the ruts then and avoid them. Don’t you 
think so. Captain?” 

“Very likely,” answered Mrs. Remington. “I do 
think we’re on the right road, and we’ll reach the 
highway if we only keep on going.” 

“I see a light ahead!” announced Ethel, who was 
sitting in front with Florence. 

“So do I!” said Lily. “Two lights!” 

“That’s an approaching car!” 

“At least we can ask for directions,” declared the 
cver-ready Marjorie. “Pull over to the right, Flos, 
and stop when they get to us.” 

They could see by the bobbing of the lights that 
the other car was approaching at a pretty rapid pace, 
regardless of road. In another moment it was upon 
them, but showed no signs of turning out. 

“Now!” cried Marjorie; and Florence swung the 
car sharply to the side of the road and applied the 
brakes. 

“Just in time to avoid a collision,” growled Lily. 
^‘Where do they think they are driving like that—” 


140 


THE GIEL SCOUTS' 


But even as they stopped, the other car came to 
an abrupt halt too, a few yards ahead of them, the 
brakes screeching shrilly in the night. 

With the full glare of the other car's head-lights 
in their eyes, the girls could just make out the two 
figures which descended from the machine. 

“Can you tell us, please," called Marjorie, 
“whether this road will take us to the Lincoln High¬ 
way?" 

The answer, when it came, was like a thunder¬ 
bolt out of a clear sky. 

“Hands up!" ordered a rough voice; and two men 
approached. 

The girls were thrown immediately into helpless, 
speechless panic. So great was their consternation 
that they even failed to do as the man commanded. 
“Hold up yer hands, I say!" he roared, advancing 
to the side of the car, threatening them with a re¬ 
volver. 

Obediently, seven pairs of hands were elevated. 

“Ye Gods! Bill," called the ruffian to his com¬ 
panion. 'tain't nothin' but a carload of girls!" 

“Easy pickins. Til say!" remarked the other. 

The men now stood revealed in the gleam of 
their own headlights. They were clad in soiled over¬ 
alls and jumpers, and looked like ordinary mechanics,, 
except for the masks which covered their faces com¬ 
pletely—rudely improvised masks consisting of 


MOTOR TRIP 


141 


nothing more than pocket handkerchiefs with eye¬ 
holes cut in them. But they looked weird enough, 
and it was no wonder the girls were frightened. 

‘‘Ladies/’ said the man with the gun, who seemed 
to be the leader, “we hate to disturb you, and all 
that sort of thing, but we’re badly in need of ready 
cash. So I just guess you’ll have to oblige us with 
some.” 

“You mean you want to steal our money?” cried 
Daisy. 

“Yes, dearie, if you have t’ put it that way. 
Shell out’s the word,” replied the man, laughing. 

With a sigh of resignation, Mrs. Remington 
lowered her hands long enough to produce her 
purse, which she dropped reluctantly into the out¬ 
stretched hands of the bandit, and the girls followed 
her example. Marjorie was among the last to sur¬ 
render her purse. After the first moment of sur¬ 
prise, she had quickly recovered her wits, and was 
casting about for some method of escape; for she 
noticed that the man with the revolver failed to keep 
them covered with it when he saw that they were 
all girls, and had even replaced the gun in his 
pocket. 

“If I can only get hold of my revolver without 
arousing his suspicions, I’ll have the drop on him, 
and make him give the money back. The other man 


142 


THE GIKL SCOUTS’ 


won't dare do anything for fear I'll shoot his com¬ 
panion." 

These thoughts flashed through her mind with 
lightning rapidity, and she determined to take a 
chance. Under pretence of reaching for her purse, 
she calmly directed her hand to the pocket where 
she always carried her revolver, a gift from John 
Hadley. Alas, the pocket was empty! Then she re¬ 
called having put it away in her bag the day they had 
washed their uniforms. It galled her exceedingly 
to hand over her purse without resistance. If only 
Jack and John were with them! But she realized 
that it was useless to think of resistance now. She 
could not help saying, however, as she submitted 
like the other girls: 

‘"You ought to be ashamed of yourselves—two 
men robbing a party of girls!" 

“We are, dearie, we are. It almost breaks our 
hearts. In fact, you’d better hand over your jewelry 
to console us!" 

“We haven’t anything but our watches,” replied 
Mrs. Remington, quietly. “Girl Scouts in uniform 
don't wear jewelry." 

“Wal, fork 'em over!" ordered their persecutor. 

Each scout slipped off her wrist-watch and 
handed it to the bandit. The man surveyed the 
articles sullenly, and seeming satisfied returned to 
his own car. His companion had already started 


MOTOR TRIP 


143 


the engine, and without any other words they drove 
past the girls and sped away into the darkness. 

The girls’ tongues were loosened now; they all be¬ 
gan to talk at once. Anger was the predominating 
sentiment—anger at being so taken in; but there was 
also relief at being freed with their lives. 

“A pretty pair of cowards!” snapped Marjorie. 

They all turned naturally to Mrs. Remington for 
the solution of their problem. 

'‘We have some travellers’ checks in our trunk,” 
she said. 

“Well, we needn’t say a word about paying at the 
hotel until tomorow,” said Ethel. “Luckily, hotels 
aren’t pay-as-you-enter-contrivances. We can 
settle later.” 

“That’s so!” exclaimed Marjorie, joyfully. “But 
are you sure that we have enough money to get us 
to San Francisco?” 

“Yes, I’m sure,” replied the older woman. 

Florence started the car again, and they turned 
their attention to watching for the Lincoln High¬ 
way. It was not long before they spied the detour 
sigfn in the distance, and knew that a hotel was not 
far off. 

“Here we are!” cried Marjorie, after they had 
proceeded about half a mile. “Here—on the right!” 

“But it’s closed!” protested Florence. 


144 


THE GIEL SCOUTS' 


“So is most everything now,” put in Lily. “It 
must be nearly midnight. 

“Yes, we'll have to rouse them,” said Mrs. Rem¬ 
ington. “Marjorie, come on out with me while we 
see. 

It was another fifteen minutes before they were 
rewarded with an answer. 

“Yes, we can put you up,” replied the proprietor 
sleepily, “but we haven't any room in the garage for 
your car!'' 

The girls, who had all heard this reply, looked 
at each other despairingly. 

“Our car is the only thing we have left!'' wailed 
Alice; “we've been robbed of food, and clothing, 
and jewelry, and money—” 

“And another car,” added Lily. 

The proprietor regarded them sympathetically; if 
what they said was true, they certainly had been 
having a rough time. 

“You must have enemies,” he remarked. “No¬ 
body could have all those misfortunes just by 
chance 1” 

“But we haven't any enemies!” protested Alice. 
“Only some bootleggers whom we prosecuted last 
year—and they're in jail!” 

“Well, I am sorry for you,” the man concluded; 
“and I guess I can find a safe place for your car 


MOTOR TRIP 


145 


under my shed. Only, if the place burns down ITl 
lose my insurance—^but I guess I’ll take a chance. 
You look pretty tired!” 

They put the car away where he indicated, and 
crept wearily up the stairs to their rooms. The 
little clock that Mrs. Remington kept in her suit-case 
informed them that it was one o’clock in the morn¬ 
ing—the beginning of a new day, the thirtieth of 
July. Yet they went to bed with a sense of victory 
in their hearts; they still possessed one car, and 
enough money to get them to their destination. 
Moreover, two days remained to complete their trip 
to the coast! 


146 


THE GIKl. SCOUTS' 


CHAPTER XIII. 

'^FOLLOW THE LEADER/^ 

When the Girl Scouts went to sleep that night, 
they had every intention of making the usual start 
at eight o'clock in the morning. Yet Mrs. Reming¬ 
ton did not feel justified in asking to be called; 
they were all tired-out, and needed what sleep they 
could get. Moreover, she did not anticipate any 
real delay. 

The surprise was therefore very great when Mar¬ 
jorie awakened to hear the town clock striking 
twelve. One glance at Lily told her that her com¬ 
panion had scarcely stirred during the night; a 
shout into the adjoining room assured her that the 
other girls were still in bed. 

An overpowering sense of calamity hovered over 
her until she was able to recall the events of the 
previous night, and remembered that they had been 
robbed of all their ready cash. Just as she was 
about to arouse Lily, Mrs. Remington softly entered 
the room. Instantly Marjorie discerned that some¬ 
thing further was wrong: 


MOTOR TRIP 


147 


“What is it, Mrs. Remington?” she asked with¬ 
out any ceremony. 

“My travellers’ checks are gone,” replied her visi¬ 
tor, with a slight tremor in her voice. “I did carry 
them in my satchel, but yesterday I remember that 
I transferred them to my purse. And of course I 
handed that over to the bandits!” 

Instead of being alarmed at this piece of infor¬ 
mation, Marjorie looked immensely relieved. 

“That’s all right!” she exclaimed, gleefully. “It’ll 
be a good joke on the thieves, for we’ll telegraph the 
bank to stop payment—” 

“Yes, yes,” interrupted Mrs. Remington. “All 
well and good. But that won’t help us now. We 
haven’t any money!” 

“Oh, horrors!” gasped Marjorie, looking from 
Lily to Mrs. Remington in distress. 

“Don’t you suppose somebody will cash an or¬ 
dinary check ?” asked Lily, hopefully. 

“Nobody knows us here. No, there is no chance 
except from the bank. We could wire home for 
money—” Mrs. Remington stopped abruptly, a 
cloud crossing her brow. “But we can’t do that till 
Monday—for all the banks close at noon on Satur¬ 
day.” 

“Oh!” wailed Marjorie; “now we are in for it! 
And we have to be at Aunt Emeline’s by midnight 
on Monday.” 


148 


THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 


‘'We can't possibly!" cried Lily, bursting into 
tears, an act which summoned the other scouts from 
the adjoining rooms and necessitated a restatement 
of the facts as they now stood. 

“Maybe the proprietor of this hotel will cash a 
check for us," suggested Alice, optimistically. 

“He might; but I don’t think he would unless we 
had some means of identification," said Ethel. “No, 
I guess we may as well make up our minds to stay 
until after nine o’clock on Monday morning." 

“Nevertheless we can approach the man on the 
subject," Marjorie remarked. “He can’t do any 
worse than refuse." 

“He might put us out," said Lily. 

With all possible celerity, Mrs. Remington left 
the room to put the proposal to a test. When she 
returned in fifteen minutes the girls knew instantly 
by her expression that she had been unsuccessful. 
However, the proprietor had extended them the 
courtesy of an invitation to remain as long as they 
wished. 

“Then," concluded Alice, “we have to stay over 
Sunday, and trust to luck that we can make Aunt 
Emeline’s in one day. Let’s don’t worry any more 
—there’s simply nothing to be done 1" 

But Marjorie and Mrs. Remington decided to 
leave no stone unturned in their attempt to raise 
money. First of all they went to the police author!- 


MOTOR TRIP 


149 


ties with a full report of their misfortune; then they 
sought the president of the local bank, a Mr. Simp¬ 
son, at his own home. Here they were received 
graciously, not only by the man himself, but by his 
wife as well, and into their s3mipathetic ears they 
poured their disconcerting tale. Neither seemed to 
doubt its authenticity for a single instant. 

“I can’t do anything for you in the bank’s name,” 
the president informed them when the story was 
finished, ‘‘but I will be glad to help you personally. 
It won’t inconvenience me in the least!” 

“You can telegraph our bank at home, and get a 
reply on Monday,” Mrs. Remington suggested. 

“I don’t need any further proof of your honesty,” 
answered Mr. Simpson, with a kindly smile; “your 
faces and your uniforms are sufficient!” 

Marjorie unceremoniously let out a shriek. 

“But we can’t accept help from you—splendid as 
it is of you to offer it!” she objected. “Because our 
rules forbid us!” 

“What rules?” asked the man, in amazement. 

Marjorie hastened to make the necessary explana¬ 
tion; and although Mr. Simpson protested that he 
was not to be classed as “a man along the road,” the 
girl stuck to her resolution. 

“We don’t want to leave a loop-hole of uncer¬ 
tainty,” she said; “we can’t be too careful—it might 
disqualify us.” 


150 


THE GIKL SCOUTS’ 


“Then I positively can't do anything to help you ?" 
he inquired, in obvious disappointment. 

“No, you can’t, dear,” replied his wife, quietly. 
“But—” she beamed all over her face, for she had 
taken a fancy to Marjorie—“but I can, and will!” 

“Oh, thank you!” cried the girl, jumping up in 
joy. “And let’s settle down to business right away 
—for there isn’t a moment to be lost!” 

It was five o’clock in the afternoon when Marjorie 
and Mrs. Remington finally left his house; too late, 
of course, to consider beginning to drive that night. 
They hurried back to the hotel and found three of 
the girls waiting for them on the porch. Daisy and 
Florence were missing. 

As soon as Mrs. Remington had told her story 
she inquired for the other two girls. Lily and Ethel 
exchanged amused glances, and Alice infonned her 
that they had discovered some friends at the hotel 
and had gone for a walk with them, 

“Friends!” repeated Marjorie. “Then they could 
probably have helped us out on the money ques¬ 
tion !” 

“Yes, I believe that they offered to/ remarked 
Ethel indifferently. “But I’m glad we don’t have 
to accept their assistance.” 

“What’s the matter?” demanded Marjorie, “Who 
are they ?” 

“Three guesses!” 


MOTOR TRIP 


151 


‘‘Not those young men who own that red racer?*' 
she asked, almost contemptuously. 

“The very same," laughed Alice. 

“How did they get here ?" inquired Mrs. Reming¬ 
ton. 

“I don't know—except that their car brought 
them," returned Ethel. 

“They certainly do follow us!" exclaimed Mar¬ 
jorie. “And I tell you what," she added emphatical¬ 
ly, “I'm getting sick of them! Every time that there 
is a misfortune, they are on hand. Something else 
will probably go wrong now 1" 

“Something else has gone wrong," answered Lily. 
“I wanted to move the car out to have it washed, 
and I found that there was water in the carburator. 
I mentioned it to the young men, and they wanted 
to fix it—" 

“You didn't, let them?" interrupted Marjorie 
sharply. 

“Mercy no! If we lose our rewards I want it to 
be for reason which we couldn't help—^not because 
we were weak enough to accept assistance from 
men." 

“Here they all come!" announced Alice, suddenly. 
“The girls look happy enough!" 

“Too happy!" growled Marjorie. “Well, I'm go¬ 
ing in—I don't care about meeting these men again." 

Just as she disappeared within the doorway of the 


152 


THE GIEL SCOUTS’ 


hotel, the four young people mounted the porch 
steps. 

‘‘Perhaps we could help you,” suggested Mc¬ 
Daniel, graciously, after he had paid his respects to 
Mrs. Remington. “But if we do, we want to exact a 
promise 1” 

“Yes?” queried Mrs. Remington. 

“You all stay here over tomorrow morning and 
don’t start until after dinner. Then we’ll advance 
you enough money to get to San Francisco I” 

Ethel’s lips curled ever so imperceptibly. 

“Many thanks, Mr. McDaniel,” she said, coldly, 
without waiting for Mrs. Remington to speak; “but 
we already have secured what funds we need from 
the president of the bank. And,” she added 
maliciously, “we are starting at seven o’clock to- 
morow morning!” 

Both men looked crest-fallen at her words, and 
McDaniel turned imploringly to Mrs. Remington. 

“Please stay just till after dinner tomorrow 1” he 
begged. “We had made such a thrilling plan—” 

“As thrilling as winning seven automobiles?” in¬ 
terrupted Ethel, sarcastically. 

Neither man made any attempt to answer this 
question, and Ethel left the porch to join Marjorie. 
Finding her up in her room, she settled herself to 
repeat the foregoing conversation. 

“Marj!” she cried, her eyes still flashing with 


MOTOR TRIP 


153 


anger at the effrontery of the young men, ‘*do you 
know that I almost believe those people are in league 
against us. They just seem bent on delaying us 
whenever it is possible!’’ 

*‘Yes, indeed,” replied Marjorie, ‘T have been 
thinking that all along. Just wait till we get to 
San Francisco! Then I’m going to question Aunt 
Emeline pretty closely about it. If she has been 
mean enough to employ them—” 

**Oh, well, we’ll win out anyhow, in spite of 
everything!” Ethel asserted triumphantly. 

‘‘And we won’t take their advice about roads, 
either!” said Marjorie. “We won’t repeat our ex¬ 
perience in Chicago!” 

There was no need, however, to worry about 
which road to take, for the Lincoln Highway was in 
the best condition and stretched before them straight 
to the coast. They travelled all day Sunday, taking 
the precaution to select a hotel before sun-down. 
One day only remained before the stipulated time 
should expire; yet the girls felt confident that they 
could reach Miss Vaughn’s house before midnight 
of the first of August. 

They awoke early on the morning of their last 
day, eager to complete their long journey, and to 
receive their rewards. It was with' a sinking sensa¬ 
tion that they saw rain-drops on windows, and 
clouds in the sky, but they had no intention of al- 


154 


THE GIRL SCOUTS' 


lowing the weather to defeat them. Deciding to 
proceed cautiously rather than too speedily, they 
made their way across the country to the city that 
is the gateway of the west. The journey was tire¬ 
some and somewhat of a strain, in spite of the beau¬ 
tiful scenery, but it was successful. At six o’clock 
that evening they reached the center of the city. 

^‘We can’t walk in at this time of the night and 
surprise Aunt Emeline,” said Marjorie. “So hadn’t 
we better go to a hotel for supper, freshen up a bit, 
and telephone to her that we are on our way?” 

“Then she could give us explicit directions about 
how to get there,” put in Alice. 

“Are you sure that we have time enough?” asked 
Ethel. “It takes a long time to eat dinner in a hotel. 
And midnight tonight—” 

“Oh, we have oceans of time!” exclaimed Daisy, 
laughingly. “All our worires are over now!” 

Accordingly they stopped at one of the largest 
hotels, and Alice went immediately to the telephone 
booth. What a shock she received when she dis¬ 
covered that Miss Vaughn was not listed!” 

“Probably she doesn’t want to be bothered with 
charity solicitors, and keeps her name out of the 
book,” suggested Lily. 

“Or perhaps she’s too old-fashioned to have a 
phone,” observed Alice, bitterly. “Hard luck for 


MOTOR TRIP 


155 


“And yet she's up-to-date enough to be interested 
in Girl Scouts/’ said Marjorie. 

“And to present us with motor-cars!” put in 
Daisy. 

“She hasn’t yet,” remarked Ethel; “and won’t if 
we don’t get there before midnight 1” 

“Well, I always knew that she was as queer as 
they make ’em,” said Alice. “She’s awfully old, 
you know, and though she has made a will in favor 
of those two nephews, mother says they live in dead¬ 
ly terror lest she’ll change it for some whim.” 

“I believe it!” laughed Marjorie. “She certainly 
has kept us in fear and trembling for the last few 
weeks. But I really think that we are going to get 
the best of her at last 1” 

At eight o’clock they started on their way again, 
in the general direction of the suburb in which Miss 
Vaughn lived. So jolly and gay were the girls that 
they lost all track of time; only Marjorie and Ethel 
kept looking anxiously for the big school-house that 
was to mark their turning. When houses became 
fewer and farther apart, and the landscape took on 
the appearance of the country rather than of the 
suburbs, Marjoire experienced growing apprehen¬ 
sion lest they were lost. At last she stopped the 
car and turned to the others for consultation. 

“We’re on the wrong track, I’m sure!” she de- 


156 


THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 


dared; ‘‘and I think that we had better go back to 
the hotel and start again. It’s ten o’clock.” 

“Ten o’clock!” repeated Lily in dismay. “Sup¬ 
pose we waste two more hours! “We’ll never make 
it!” 

“I have an idea,” continued Marjorie. “We 
won’t take any chances. Two of you girls take a 
taxi and give the driver the address; then we’ll play 
follow the leader close behind with our machine.” 

The plan was immediately adopted, and at eleven 
o’clock they were back at the hotel where they 
started. Lily and Mrs. Remington were elected to 
ride in the taxi, which, to the girls’ surprise, drove 
off in the opposite direction from which they had 
just come. Marjorie turned about and trailed it for 
about half an hour; then, at precisely twenty-five 
minutes after eleven, they entered an impressive 
gateway and drove up the long, winding road which 
led to the Vaughn mansion. The girls were so awe¬ 
struck by its grandeur that they almost neglected to 
pay the taxi driver. 

“I’ve never been in any place so wonderful!” 
gasped Daisy, as she mounted the steps. 

“It looks like the movies,” added Ethel. “I hard¬ 
ly expect to find real people—” 

“We had better not delay too long,” advised Flor¬ 
ence, calling them back to the practical. “We have 


MOTOR TRIP 


157 


only half an hour before our time is up, and it may 
take them that long to answer the bell 

‘‘Especially if they have gone to bed,’’ remarked 
Alice. 

“But surely they’d wait till midnight!” said Mar¬ 
jorie. 

A moment later, in answer to their ring, the door 
was opened by a butler, and the girls entered the 
most magnificent house they had ever seen. They 
believed that at last they were safe from delay and 
disaster; they had won their goal! The grand¬ 
father’s clock in the hall struck the half hour as they 
passed into the drawing-room. 


THE GIKi. SCOUTS’ 


158 

j ^ 


CHAPTER XTV. ^ 

SPIES. 

The servant who admitted the Girl Scouts that 
night to the home of Miss Emeline Vaughn did not 
need to ask who the visitors were. He led them im¬ 
mediately to the drawing-room, where an elderly 
lady was sitting in a huge, upholstered arm-chair. 

The first impression that the girls received of 
Alice’s aunt was of a tiny shrivelled old lady, with 
very bright, beady eyes, which shone out from be¬ 
neath her white eyebrows with all the greater bril¬ 
liancy. It was evident that she was excited, and she 
gave them a triumphant smile. 

*T knew that you’d make it!” she exclaimed, in a 
shrill, though not a loud tone. *T’ve been telling 
the boys all along. Now—^which is Alice?” 

Her niece stepped forward instantly and gave her 
a dutiful kiss upon the cheek. 

“Let me introduce Mrs. Remington, our 
chaperone, first of all,” the girl said. “And now the 
scouts. Not that you’ll keep us all straight, or re¬ 
member all our names—” 


MOTOR TRIP 


159 


*‘DonT you fool yourself!” interrupted the old 
lady. ‘‘Fm not decrepit yet, though I may look it. 
As it happens, I know all of your names already, 
and ril soon put them to the right people.” 

Marjorie and Ethel exchanged meaning glances 
at this piece of information. No doubt the woman 
was clever—clever enough even to cause the ob¬ 
stacles which they had encountered to be put in 
their way. 

‘‘Which one is Marjorie?” she continued. “I 
understand that she is an officer of your band— 
or whatever you call it.” 

“Lieutenant of the troop,” replied Marjorie, 
with a salute. 

“Well, sit down now and tell me all about it. Fll 
send for my nephews—they waited up for you.” 

The girls did as they were bidden and Mrs. Rem¬ 
ington began a brief recital of their experiences. 
Before she had gone very far, the two young men 
of the house entered. 

They were both typical Americans of the better 
class; neat, well-groomed, perfectly at ease in any 
surroundings. Marjorie could not help noticing a 
certain similarity of appearance to McDaniel and 
Cryton, a similarity that was due rather to environ¬ 
ment than to any special resemblance. It was evi¬ 
dent that they too were college men, and not sur¬ 
prising that they should be members of the same 


160 


THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 


fraternity. For some unknown reason she took a 
dislike to them. 

“We were so afraid that you wouldn’t make it,” 
drawled Milton, the older of the two. “And when 
eleven o’clock struck and still you didn’t come, we 
felt sure you had lost the game.” 

“And Auntie would have been so triumphant!’^ 
added Vaughn. “Because she really didn’t want you 
to succeed!” 

“Vaughn Crowell, what a story!” exclaimed the 
old lady, resentfully. “I’m not the one that didn’t 
want them to succeed!” 

“Only that you would get out of buying all those 
motor-cars,” ventured Alice. 

“Maybe not, but what good would that have done 
me? Didn’t I promise the whole amount to your 
fraternity house if the girls didn’t succeed? But 
I’m mighty glad that they have been so plucky!” 

“What did you say. Miss Vaughn?” demanded 
Marjorie, sharply. “That the fraternity would have 
benefited by our failure?” she glanced significantly 
at Ethel. 

“You weren’t supposed to tell that. Auntie!” re¬ 
marked Milton, rather sheepishly. “It looks rather 
queer for us!” 

“It explains things,” said Ethel, coolly. “Because 
if I understand rightly, Mr. McDaniel and Mr. 


MOTOR TRIP 


161 


Cryton belong to the same fraternity, don’t they, 
Mr. Crowell?” 

“Yes—do you know them?” asked the young man 
carelessly. 

“We met them on the way out, more than once—- 
several times, in fact. And each time they seemed 
bent on delaying us whenever they could!” 

“Pshaw!” exclaimed Vaughn; “they never heard 
of Auntie’s promise. It was only made jokingly, 
and never mentioned to anyone.” 

“No,” put in Miss Vaughn, with sincerity, “the 
boys really haven’t seen any college men since the 
term closed, and I have never even met these two. 
Now tell me truthfully—are you absolutely sure that 
you didn’t accept help from any men along the 
road ?” 

“Absolutely none!” declared Mrs. Remington, 
with assurance. 

“I am glad to hear it,” repeated the old lady. 
“You bring credit to your sex as well as to your 
organization. Now, suppose that we have some- 
' thing to eat, and go to bed. We can talk about the 
automobiles tomorrow.” 

The girls lost no time in obeying her orders, and 
soon were fast asleep in the big, handsomely fur¬ 
nished rooms of this spacious house. In their dreams 
they saw themselves driving their little roadsters 
in their own home towns; for to all of them except 


162 


THE GIRL SCOUTS^ 


Lily, the prospect of owning their own cars was a 
novelty. 

Jjc ★ ^ * 

Having given instructions that the Girl Scouts 
were not to be disturbed the following morning, 
Miss Vaughn breakfasted as usual with her two 
nephews at nine o'clock. After reading her mail, 
she established herself for a quiet morning on the 
porch with some books and her knitting, hardly ex¬ 
pecting to hear anything further from the young 
people until luncheon. She was therefore quite sur¬ 
prised when her nephews strolled towards her about 
eleven o'clock, accompanied by two other young men 
with whom they had been playing tennis. 

“You have met Jo and Ned, haven't you, Aun¬ 
tie ?" asked Milton, as they mounted the steps. 

“Oh, yes, of course," replied Miss Vaughn, cor¬ 
dially. 

The young men all sat down on the steps, while 
the old lady could not help wondering what was 
about to happen, and whether there was any particu¬ 
lar reason for the visit. 

“A pretty hot day for tennis," observed Vaughn, 
as if to apologize for the halt in the game. “So 
we thought that we’d take it a bit easy.'’ 

“Yes,” added the one whom the boys addressed 
as “Jo"; “we're both out of practice. We've been 
cast all summer." 


MOTOR TRIP 


163 


“Indeed!’’ observed Miss Vaughn, wondering 
whether they were fishing for an invitation to 
meet the girls. If so, why had her nephews not in¬ 
vited them? Seldom did they show such deference 
to her wishes. 

“Did you motor ?” she asked, casually. 

“Yes, part of the time,” replied Ned. “It was 
great sport—” His voice died down, as if he had 
something more that he wished to say, yet did not 
possess the courage to utter it. 

“We saw your party of girls along the way,” put 
in Jo. “At least, they must have been the same 
ones, for they were all in scout uniform, and were 
evidently touring.” 

“Yes, I’d like to find out whether they were your 
Girls Scouts,” added Ned, “just for the fun of it. 
I am sure that I should recognize them immediate¬ 
ly-” 

“In other words,” snapped the old lady sharply, 
“you are hinting in every way possible for an in¬ 
vitation. Well, I’ll gratify you: come to dinner 
tonight!” 

“Oh, thanks,” murmtired both young men, grate¬ 
fully. 

“But to call your bluff,” continued Miss Vaughn, 
“how would you be able to identify people whom 
you merely saw in another machine—^both probably 
going at a pretty good rate of speed?” 


164 


THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 


“But we weren’t/’ objected Ned “Both the girls’ 
cars were stopped, and we went slowly; in fact, 
we practically stopped, so that we could offer as¬ 
sistance. Both their cars were in hard luck.” 

“Punctures ?” 

“Yes—though the big one was fixed before we 
got there.” 

“And the little one?” questioned Miss Vaughn, 
with a triumphant gleam in her eyes. “Those girls 
turned down your offer for help?” 

“Yes, they did,” replied Jo, stolidly. 

“I knew it! I knew they would!” 

“Naturally,” muttered Ned. “Very naturally! 
Those two frat brothers of Milt’s were doing it 
all. We recognized them and beat it pretty quickly. 
Nobody has any chance with the ladies when they 
are around!” 

Miss Vaughn suddenly sat up very straight in 
her chair, twirling her rings excitedly. 

“What? What was that?” she demanded, in her 
shrill voice. 

Ned and Jo looked at each other in obvious 
amazement, as if they could not understand the cause 
of her disturbance, and both the Crowell boys 
laughed scornfully. 

“Let me explain,” said Milton, a smile of amuse¬ 
ment still playing about his mouth; “my aunt is 
giving these girls cars for reaching the coast, if 


MOTOR TRIP 


165 


they comply with certain conditions she has made. 
And one of the most important of these conditions 
is that they do not accept any asistance from men 
along the road.. She believes that they lived up to 
their contract; now you two come along innocently 
with a different story, and knock down their house 
of cards. Well, that's too funny!" His tone be¬ 
came cynical. “I knew the girls couldn't do it, 
Auntie! And just think how near they came to put¬ 
ting it over on you!" 

By this time Miss Vaughn's anger had reached 
the breaking point; she rose from her chair and 
stamped her foot impetuously, in spite of her 
seventy-odd years. 

“You are sure of what you say?" she demanded, 
hotly. 

“Sure of everything except the identity of the 
girls—and we'll know that when we see them," 
replied Ned. 

A sudden idea flashed into Miss Vaughn's mind. 

“You’re not in the boys’ fraternity—^the one that 
profits by the Girl Scouts’ loss ?" she asked shrewd- 

^y- 

“No, certainly not,” answered Ned. Why?" 

“Nothing!” She seemed to be thinking quickly. 
She took a few steps towards the house, stopped 
as if to say something, changed her mind, and went 
in. 


166 


THE GIEL SCOUTS' 


At first it was her intention to rush straight to 
the girls’ rooms, accuse them of the deceit, learn 
to what extent they had lied, and make all those who 
had a part in it forfeit their rewards. But a little 
consideration of the matter caused her to change 
her mind; after all it would be better to wait until 
their identity had been established and she was sure 
of her case. 

It was nearly one o’clock when the scouts, re¬ 
freshed by their sleep and clothed in their pretty 
dresses which had been sent ahead in trunks, ap¬ 
peared on the porch. They found their hostess 
alone; the tennis players had long since returned to 
their game. 

‘Well, girls,” she said cheerily, “how does it feel 
to rest?” 

‘Wonderful!” cried Alice, gaily. “Almost too 
wonderful—for your sake. Auntie! I’m afraid that 
we’ll want to stay here a good while!” 

“You’re welcome to stay all summer if you like,” 
replied the old lady hospitably. “In fact, you will 
have to be here some little time before your cars 
come. I haven’t even put in the order yet!” 

“Then you didn’t expect us all to win them?” 
asked Ethel. 

“No, frankly, I didn’t. And I want to be sure 
that you deserve them before you get them!” 


MOTOR TRIP 


167 


“Then you’re not sure yet?” flashed Alice, sus¬ 
piciously. 

“There, don’t get so excited, my child!” said her 
aunt. “You need not worry now—if your con¬ 
science is clear. Nor is there, I take it, any hurry. 
Now let me tell you about the dinner party which 
I am arranging in your honor for tonight.” 

Daisy and Florence looked up expectantly, long¬ 
ing to ask whether their friends of the road were 
included. They wonder'id, too, whether they had 
called that morning as they had promised. 

Miss Vaughn answered their question before they 
asked it. 

“Mr. Cryton and Mr. McDaniel called this morn¬ 
ing, but I sent word that you girls were resting, and 
invited them to the party tonight. My two nephews 
will be here, and two young men with whom they 
have been playing tennis all morning.” 

“Are they members of this same fraternity?” 
asked Marjorie, irrelevantly. 

“No,” laughed the old lady; “they are eastern 
boys. But they motored across the continent, so 
they ought to prove interesting to you.” 

“I am sure they will,” murmured Alice, as the 
party rose to answer the luncheon summons. 

The Crowell boys were a little late to the meal, 
but they entered the room with the same assurance 
which they had displayed on the previous evening. 


168 


THE GIRL SCOUTS' 


and Marjorie found her first feelings of dislike con¬ 
firmed. As the luncheon progressed, she grew in¬ 
creasingly ill at ease; the beautiful, spacious dining¬ 
room, the noiseless servants, the delicious food went 
by unnoticed. Something was wrong, she knew; 
she could sense it before she could define it. 

She glanced over at Ethel, and recognized the 
same evidence of distress in her expression. Some¬ 
thing in her eyes, too, said, ‘Trouble Ahead,'' and 
Marjorie looked away. 

Both girls knew that as yet the cars were still 
only potential! 


MOTOR TRIP 


169 


CHAPTER XV. ' 

THE ACCUSATION. 

As Marjorie dressed for dinner that evening* she 
had a premonition that something unpleasant was 
about to happen. She had not felt comfortable in 
this house since her arrival; something about the 
Crowell boys made her uneasy in their presence; 
she could not define her reasons, but she longed to 
get away. 

“How long do you think that we ought to stay?” 
she inquired of Ethel, as she clasped the buckle of 
her ecru slipper. 

“Not a minute longer than we have to, to be 
polite,” returned her room-mate. “I don’t care 
much for Aunt Emeline, and less than nothing for 
the nephews.” 

“But out of deference to Alice, we must be cour¬ 
teous.” 

“Yes, naturally. And—we must wait to receive 
our motors!” 

Marjorie looked up sharply. Was it possible that 
Ethel too shared her apprehension? 


170 


THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 


‘‘You don^t think that there is any danger of our 
not getting them?” she asked. 

Ethel half closed her eyes and looked thoughtfully 
into space. To another girl she would not commit 
herself, but with Marjorie she felt safe. 

“Well, I haven’t any reason to doubt the old lady,” 
she said, “and yet somehow I won’t believe in those 
automobiles till I see them!” 

“But why?” insisted Marjorie. “Don’t you think 
that she has the money?” 

“Oh, yes! But she has two scheming nephews 
who hate to see her part with it for anyone but them¬ 
selves.” 

“Still, it’s too late to do an5rthing now. A 
promise is a promise.” 

“I hope so!” sighed Ethel, as she finished her 
toilette. 

The girls left their room and descended to the 
porch. They found most of the other guests already 
assembled—among them Vincent Cryton and Gyde 
McDaniel. 

“We are glad to see you so soon again,” remarked 
McDaniel pleasantly as he shook Marjorie’s hand. 
“We are in luck.” 

Marjorie smiled coldly; she detested the way in 
which these young men bobbed up at every possible 
opportunity. 

“And you really made your trip according to all 


MOTOR TRIP 


171 


regulations, and have earned your rewards!” ex¬ 
claimed Cryton. "‘Let me congratulate you!” 

"‘You better not congratulate us too soon,” put in 
Ethel, somewhat bitterly. “We haven’t received the 
cars yet.” She glanced slyly at Marjorie and then 
at Miss Vaughn, who sat with her lips tightly closed 
and with anything but an amiable expression upon 
her face. Surely she was right: something was 
going to happen!” 

“But we’re going to order them tomorrow!” 
laughed Daisy, reassuringly. “And I’ll take you for 
a ride in mine the first thing, Clyde!” 

“Thanks!” murmured the young man, gratefully. 

“You’d risk your life to her, then, McDaniel!” 
teased Vaughn Crowell. 

“The girls were all experienced drivers by now,” 
returned McDaniel, haughtily. “So I do not feel 
that I am taking any risk!” 

“So long as they don’t have to fix punctures!” 
put in Milton Crowell, sarcastically. 

“Oh, we can even do that!” Florence asserted 
proudly. “Just ask Clyde or Vincent—they 
know!” 

“Indeed we do!” cried both boys eagerly; and 
again Marjorie noticed that Miss Vaughn retained 
her stolid, expressive silence. 

The conversation was interrupted by the arrival 
of the other two guests of the dinner party—Jo 


172 


THE GIKL SCOUTS’ 


Wallace and Ned Hitchens—^and the gathering was 
complete. A moment later the butler announced 
dinner. 

Marjorie found herself sauntering rather listless¬ 
ly into the dining-room, with no great anticipation 
for the little party. A wave of homesickness spread 
over her as she took her seat between Clyde Mc¬ 
Daniel and Jo Wallace; she wished so much that 
John Hadley or Dick Roberts, or her brother were 
beside her, instead. For once in her life she felt 
absolutely bored; she wondered what in the world 
she would find to talk about to either of the young 
men. 

To her surprise, however, she found that it would 
not be necessary to make much conversation, for 
McDaniel had eyes for no one but Daisy, who sat 
on his left, and Wallace became at once deeply en¬ 
grossed in his hostess. So Marjorie had plenty of 
time to look about her, and to think things out. 
During the progress of the whole six-course dinner, 
which was as elaborate as any she had ever attended, 
she knew that she did not experience a really en¬ 
joyable moment. 

Yet when she analyzed her discontent, she could 
not trace it to any happening in the past or present; 
the girls had, it was true, encountered unusual ob¬ 
stacles during their trip; but they had surmounted 
them all. Moreover, everything here was absolutely 


MOTOR TRIP 


173 


perfect; she felt that she ought to be enjoying the 
ease and the luxury of it all to the fullest extent. 
But still she was not happy. 

As she shifted her gaze about the softly lighted 
table from one smiling group to another, she realized 
suddenly that the merriment was forced rather than 
spontaneous; that with the exception of Daisy and 
Florence, who were thoroughly enjoying McDaniel’s 
and Cryton’s society, the guests were not congenial. 
The other four young men were not of the type 
which had always appealed to the scouts, and no 
one was quite at ease. 

‘Tt’s all due to those Crowell boys,” she con¬ 
cluded, as the dessert was brought on. ‘‘We don’t 
like them, or their friends, or their influence over 
Miss Vaughn. If anything does go wrong, it’ll be 
their fault!” 

It had always been the hostess’s habit to comply 
with the English custom of having the ladies with¬ 
draw from the dining-room first, leaving the young 
men alone to finish their cigarettes. Accordingly 
she arose, nodding to the girls to accompany her; 
but from the very manner in which her request was 
given, Marjorie sensed that something portentious 
was about to transpire. 

Instead of leading her guests to the porch or the 
reception-room where they had naturally expected 
the party to be continued, she conducted them off 


174 


THE GIEL SCOUTS’ 


to a wing of the house and opened the door into a 
charming little study that was evidently all her own. 
More than one of the girls were impressed with the 
antiques, the tapestries, the paintings, and yet for 
some unknown reason no one ventured to voice her 
admiration. Miss Vaughn seated herself at the 
carved chair at the desk, and the scouts dropped 
quietly into seats about the room. 

‘‘Girls,” she began slowly, allowing her glance 
to travel from one to another in turn, ‘T have some¬ 
thing to tell you that pains me very much. You 
know that when I suggested this trip, I gave you 
certain conditions which I wanted you to fulfill, 
and I put you on your honor in reporting about 
them. I had to take your word for your statements, 
for I did not have any thought of finding out for 
myself. You are Girl Scouts, your first law is trust¬ 
worthiness; that was enough for me. 

“Yet, entirely by accident, I learned, since you 
have been here, that my trust was misplaced, that 
two of your number have lied to me!” 

She paused for a moment, and caught the varied 
expressions on the girls* faces—registering anger, 
incredulity, surprise, resentment, and even distress. 
But she did not allow anyone to speak. 

“Now I want to hasten to assure you that I am 
not blaming the girls to whom this does not apply; 
for, as far as I can learn, it was done without the 


MOTOR TRIP 


175 


knowledge of the rest of the party. And of course 
both the captain and the lieutenant of the troop are 
blameless; the deceit was kept successfully from 
them. 

‘'But what in the world—?” began Alice im¬ 
petuously; but she was waved to silence by a ges¬ 
ture from her aunt. 

“One moment, Alice; I'm not finished. I want to 
repeat that I heard all this inadvertantly, from two 
people who had no interest in you one way or the 
other, and who knew nothing of the conditions I 
had made regarding the receiving of help from men 
along the road. These tourists actually saw two 
young men—whom I now suppose to be Mr. Mc¬ 
Daniel and Mr. Cryton—fixing the tires of the car 
that was stolen!" 

“That's a lie!" cried Florence, jumping from her 
chair, her eyes blazing with the anger which she 
could no longer control. Daisy, on the other hand, 
began to weep. 

Marjorie and Ethel looked at each other in blank 
amazement wondering, for an instant, whether the 
accusation could possibly be true. Yet they wavered 
only a moment in doubt; one glance at the girls’ 
righteously angry expressions assured them of their 
innocence. 

“But didn’t these young men offer to fix your 
tires?’’ persisted Miss Vaughn, shrewdly. 


176 


THE GIKL SCOUTS^ 


“Yes, of course they did; but we wouldn’t let 
them,” answered Florence. “I’ll admit we did hesi¬ 
tate for a second—Dais and I were pretty tired, 
you see—” 

“Exactly!” interrupted Miss Vaughn triumphant¬ 
ly. “You see you have given yourselves away, 
Miss Evans! Of course Mr. Cryton and Mr. Mc¬ 
Daniel would never have told — they were too 
chivalrous for that—^but since other people saw you, 
it is fortunate that the thing came to my ears, be¬ 
fore it was too late, and dishonesty was rewarded. 
Now I am perfectly willing to live up to my part 
in the bargain—” 

“May I ask,” interrupted Mrs. Remington, “who 
your informers are? Are you sure that they are 
to be trusted?” ' 

“My informers are Mr. Wallace and Mr. 
Hitchens, and they are to be trusted because they 
are absolutely disinterested parties.” 

“And would you take their word ahead of that of 
Girl Scouts?” flashed Ethel. 

“In this circumstance I would. Now, as I said be¬ 
fore, I have no intention of punishing the innocent 
girls with the guilty ones. Tomorrow the rest of 
you may come down to the sales rooms and order 
your machines.” 

There was silence for a moment while the girls 
tried to control their anger, and to remember that 


MOTOR TRIP 


17T 


their accuser was not only their hostess, but an 
aged lady as well. Marjorie, who knew that the 
sympathy of the whole group was with the two un¬ 
fortunate girls, decided to take it upon herself to 
speak for the rest. 

‘‘Miss Vaughn,” she said with dignity, “it will be 
impossible for any of us to accept your gifts so 
long as you feel that you cannot take the word of 
two of our members. How do you know that we 
are not all lying?” 

“Thafs perfect nonsense!” cried the old lady.. 
“Still, Miss Marjorie, I admire you for your loyalty 
to your troop I” 

She arose with a finality that forbade further 
discussion, and invited the girls into the reception- 
room, whence strains of dance music could be heard. 

Daisy, who was still silently weeping over the 
disgrace of such an accusation, sought Marjorie's 
hand in sympathy. 

“I'm going to take the first train home tomorrow 
morning,” she sobbed. “Even if I have to go alone! 
I can't stand it a minute longer than necessary—” 

“No!” thundered Marjorie, pressing her hand re¬ 
assuringly. “Please don't, Daisy!” 

“But why?” 

“Because I mean to stay here till I clear you and 
Florence of suspicion! And I shall probably need 
you both to be on hand to do it!” 


178 


THE GIEL SCOUTS' 


“How can you?” 

“I don't know; but I am positive that you are 
both innocent, and therefore I am sure I can suc¬ 
ceed !” 

“Bravo!” exclaimed a voice behind them, and the 
girls turned about to see a look of real admiration 
on Miss Vaughn's face. “I sincerely hope you do— 
I want to be convinced!'' 

“You will be!” cried Marjorie, triumphantly. 
“We'll show you that a Girl Scout's honor is to be 
trusted !'* 


CHAPTER XVL 

A SECOND CHANCE. 

As the girls entered the great reception-room 
where the young men were now waiting for them, 
it would not have been difficult for an outsider to 
read from their faces the fact that something un¬ 
pleasant had happened. The Crowell boys and Wal¬ 
lace and Hitchens, who all instantly guessed at the 
portent of the interview, could not hide their em¬ 
barrassment. Both Cryton and McDaniel looked 
frankly curious. The latter searched the group 
anxiously for Daisy. 

“Where's Daisy?” he asked Florence when he 
reached her side. 



MOTOR TRIP 


179 


The girl made an effort to control herself before 
she could answer calmly. 

‘‘She and Marj went upstairs for their powder 
boxes/' she replied. ‘They'll be here in a minute. 
But can't you find another partner?" 

“Where could I find another such partner?" he 
replied, relinquishing his claim upon Florence to 
Cryton. 

Retiring into the hall, he impatiently awaited 
Daisy's return. But three dances were over before 
she put in an appearance, and then she came re¬ 
luctantly. 

“Daisy!" he cried suddenly, as the girls descended 
the wide stairway. “I'm simply dying to dance!" 

The girl dropped her eyes as she came towards 
him, and Marjorie explained briefly that her com¬ 
panion had a headache. Then she vanished through 
the doorway, leaving the couple together. 

“Something has happened!" exclaimed McDaniel 
anxiously. “Tell me, Daisy! The girls all seemed 
to be worked up." 

“Come out here on the porch,” murmured the 
girl! “and Fll tell you ail about it. Flos and I are 
in disgrace!" 

“In disgrace!" he faltered. “But—but—^why?” 

Daisy waited until they were seated before she 
began her story. She related it just as Miss Vaughn 
had presented it, but as she spoke her voice shook 


180 


THE GIKL SCOUTS' 


with emotion, and before she had concluded she 
was again on the verge of tears. 

“You know that it isn't true,. Qyde!" she wailed. 
“Can’t you do something?” 

“Of course I’ll try!’' replied the young man 
angrily. “The very idea of their bringing such an 
accusation! But—as you say—I’m afraid they 
won’t believe me.” 

Daisy looked up through her tears into Mc¬ 
Daniel’s eyes, but somehow they seemed to lack as¬ 
surance. Was it possible that he would not come 
to her aid? 

“You know we’re innocent!” she protested. 

“Yes, certainly I do!” His tone grew irritable, 
as though he wished to forget the matter. Then, 
as if to accomplish this, he reminded her that they 
were missing the dancing. 

But Daisy hesitated, still borne down by the sense 
of shame and disgrace. 

“I don’t feel like dancing, Clyde!” 

“Did the possession of an automobile mean so 
much to you?” 

“No, no! It isn’t the loss of the car,” murmured 
the girl. “It’s my honor! To think that they actual¬ 
ly believe that I lied!” 

“But you can’t blame Miss Vaughn,” he consoled 
her. “She doesn’t know you. Oh, Daisy, if I could 
only help you—” 


MOTOR TRIP 


181 


“You do help me by believing me.” 

“Then try to forget it all. Now—will you dance 
with me ?” 

But although Daisy consented, and made every 
effort to put the unfortunate occurrence from her 
thoughts, she was not very successful, and long 
before the evening was over she realized that it 
would be better to give up and go to bed. Perhaps 
in sleep she could forget her trouble. 

Having made up her mind to withdraw quietly 
from the party, she looked about for Marjorie. To 
her surprise she found her—not on the floor as she 
usually was when music was playing—^but over in 
the corner of the room talking with Miss Vaughn. 
As inconspicuously as possible she made her way 
across to them. As she drew near enough to hear 
their voices she realized that Marjorie’s was ardent, 
pleading; she was evidently asking the old lady for 
something. However, she looked up cordially as 
Daisy approached, not seeming to mind the inter¬ 
ruption. 

<‘Yes—come here, Daisy—I am pleading your 
cause! I am trying to convince Miss Vaughn that 
Mr. Wallace and Mr. Hitchens made a mistake.” 

The woman’s eyes searched those of the new¬ 
comer, but she could read neither guilt nor inno¬ 
cence from her countenance—only distress. 

“But how could they?” asked Miss Vaughn. 


182 


THE GIRL SCOUTS^ 


“They admitted that they didn^t stop,” argued 
Marjorie; ‘‘so it might have been rather difficult to 
determine whether the boys or the girls were doing 
the work!” 

“Why didn’t you ask Mr. McDaniel?” suggested 
Daisy. 

“I have already asked Mr. Cr)1:on,” replied Miss 
Vaughn; “and, as I expected, he denied it. He 
would hardly be a man if he didn’t, knowing the 
circumstances. No, I am afraid that in a case like 
this, the word of these two young men could not 
be relied upon.” 

“Then why rely upon that of the other two men ?” 
flashed Marjorie. 

“That is different—^they are disinterested, as I 
told you before. And they gave me the information 
before they heard of my conditions—not afterwards! 
Now they too would probably lie for you, out of 
chivalry, since they know how much it means to 
you.” 

As she continued, Marjorie grew increasingly ex¬ 
cited, while Daisy only became more and more un¬ 
happy. Her eyes sought Marjorie’s in a mute ap¬ 
peal for her to take her away from the party. But 
the other girl was not ready; she had a plan at the 
back of her mind which she was saving to utilize 
if all else failed. 

“Miss Vaughn,” she said, finally, “then I ask 


MOTOR TRIP 


183 


that you give us another chance! That you consent 
to let these two suspected girls make the trip back, 
accompanied by a chaperone whom you appoint, 
who will serve as referee. Give them a chance to 
prove that they can do it!’^ 

Miss Vaughn listened in surprise, but not with 
disfavor. It was characteristic of her that she 
wanted to play fair. 

“And if they make it according to conditions?” 
she asked. 

“Then we all receive the cars. If not, nobody 
does!” 

“Would you expect all the girls to make the trip 
again ?” 

“No—only Florence and Daisy—^and anyone else 
who wishes,” returned Marjorie. 

Then Daisy spoke up. 

“Please, don’t give yourself the trouble of con¬ 
sidering such a proposal on my account. I never 
could consent to such a plan!” 

“Why not?” asked Miss Vaughn, rather wearily. 

“Pride, I suppose,” answered Daisy. “But it 
wouldn’t improve matters any. It wouldn’t convince 
you in the least that we had not lied in the first 
place; and since you won’t believe us, let us say no 
more about it.” 

“My dear, I should be only too happy to believe 
you; in fact, I am more inclined to take people at 


134 


THE GIRL SCOUTS^ 


their word than otherwise. That is why I believed 
Mr. Wallace and Mr. Hitchens; and I fully ex¬ 
pected you two girls to confess when confronted 
with the accusation. But you did not; and then I 
regretted the very foolish outburst on my part, 
which now places me in the very delicate position 
that, since everyone knows how matters stand, I 
can’t seem to believe one side without making out 
the others as liars. I thought to shift the respon- 
sibilty upon your shoulders by offering you the cars 
if you would take them under the circumstances. 
You refused, which is something in your favor, but 
my position remains unaltered. Yes, it may be 
that this is a way out, if you will consent to it. That 
is why I say it is worth considering.” 

'T think it would be better for everyone con¬ 
cerned if we let the matter drop,” repeated Daisy. 

‘‘Don’t mind Daisy, Miss Vaughn,” said Mar¬ 
jorie, as she put her arm about the girl to lead 
her away. “It’s natural for her to feel this way. 
Consider the proposition as a special favor to me, 
and to Pansy Troop.” 

“Well, I will think it over,” replied the hostess. 
“I’ll let you know tomorrow morning.” 

Daisy and Marjorie took the reply as a dismissal, 
and left the ball room together. When they reached 
the door of their own room, Daisy questioned Mar- 


MOTOR TRIP 185 

jorie once more for assurance of her belief in their 
innocence. 

‘'You don’t believe that we did accept assistance, 
do you, Marj? Tell me again!” 

“No, Daisy! A hundred times, no! In fact—I 
don’t even believe that you looked as if you did!” 

“But then why would those two boys make such a 
report ?” 

“Because there’s a mystery that underlies all this! 
A mystery which I mean to solve, if I possibly can!” 

“Could somebody be plotting against us?” asked 
Daisy, incredulously. 

“Yes, I think so. Some of our mishaps may have 
been accidental, but I’m sure some of them were 
deliberate. And when you think back, you may re¬ 
member how many times Mr. Cryton and Mr. Mc¬ 
Daniel tried to delay us!” 

“Surely you don’t mistrust them?” faltered Daisy. 
“I—I thought that every time they just wanted—” 

“Yes,” interrupted Marjorie. “I know what you 
want to say, only you are too modest! You believed 
that they wished to see more of you and Flos. 
Probably they did, Daisy; but that wasn’t the only 
reason.” 

“I’d hate to think that they had anything to do 
with this!” sighed Daisy. “Flos and I think a lot 
of them.” 

“But Jack and John said they didn’t consider 


186 


THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 


them absolutely straight, and hoped that we wouldn’t 
see too much of them this summer/’ Marjorie re¬ 
minded her. 

‘‘Marj,” interrupted Daisy, with a sudden return 
of the spirit she had displayed in her hostess’s 
presence, positively refuse to make that trip back I 
I don’t care enough for the cars to accept them 
under the circumstances—even if we do win them!” 

“Not for the sake of the cars, Daisy; but because 
we want to clear you and Florence—and save the 
honor of Pansy Troop!” 

“But that wouldn’t clear us I” protested the other. 

“If you will just be willing to pocket your pride, 
Daisy, and accept Miss Vaughn’s offer—I’ll show 
you that it will be best in the end.” 

“How could it be?” 

“You’ll see! I have a little scheme up my sleeve 
—to set a trap,” Marjorie explained; “and try to 
catch our enemies at their game!” 

Daisy’s eyes grew big at the thought of the ad¬ 
venture Marjorie must be planning. Could she have 
a plot, too, then—to catch the boys and prove their 
trickery, and the girls’ honesty? Eagerly she de¬ 
manded more information. 

“Tell me more about it, Marj!” she pleaded. 

But Marjorie shook her head. 

“I can’t, Daisy—it’s all too uncertain. But if you 
and Florence will only trust me enough to accept 


MOTOR TRIP 


187 


the terms of the proposition, I think I may succeed. 
Would you be willing to place yourself in my 
hands 

Daisy looked into Marjorie’s animated face, and 
the old feeling of admiration, of respect, took pos¬ 
session of her, and she knew that she was only too 
glad to follow such a competent leader. She laid 
her cheek up against Marjorie’s, and in endearing 
words, murmured her loyalty. 

Early the next morning before Marjorie went to 
Miss Vaughn to learn of her decision, she made 
it a point to lay the proposition before Florence. 
Like Daisy, she protested at first, but was won over 
in the end. No one in the patrol ever resisted Mar¬ 
jorie long, not only because her personality was so 
compelling, but because her foresight always found 
a way out of every difficulty. The latter, however, 
decided to say nothing of her scheme to the other 
girls until after her talk with Miss Vaughn. 

She found her hostess before breakfast in her 
favorite spot on the veranda, near to the honey¬ 
suckle vine. 

“Come sit beside me, Marjorie,” the old lady 
said. “I want a little talk with you.” 

“Yes ?” answered Marjorie, trying to hide her im¬ 
patience. 

“I am only too glad to grant your request,” con¬ 
tinued Miss Vaughn. “It seems to me a very good 


188 


THE GIKL SCOUTS' 


solution of the way out of both your problem and 
mine. And this time everything will probably turn 
out all right.'' 

‘T hope so," agreed Marjorie, concealing the 
doubts that she felt. 

‘‘Now about a chaperone. I think I know of just 
the right person—a Mrs. Hart, a charming woman,, 
who, I think would be willing to go." 

They continued to discuss their plans until the 
breakfast bell sounded. No sooner was the party 
gathered at the table than she announced her good 
news. 

“Girls," she said, gaily, “we are to have a second 
chance! Miss Vaughn has decided to let Daisy and 
Florence try the trip back again, under the same 
conditions." 

The girls glanced doubtfully at the two who were 
mentioned, but, seeing that they did not protest, 
they all expressed their approval. 

“But how do we know that someone won't turn 
up to tell lies this time?" asked Ethel, morosely. 

“We're to take a Mrs. Hart, a friend of Miss 
Vaughn," replied Marjorie, watching the Crowell 
boys closely to see how the announcement affected 
them. To all appearances, they were delighted. 

“Flos, Daisy, Mrs. Hart, I—and one other girl,'^ 
she continued. “Who else wants to go?" 

“I do!" volunteered Ethel, instantly. 


MOTOR TRIP 


189 


‘‘Agreed!'’ concluded Marjorie. 

“Now,” added Miss Vaughn, who was warming 
more and more to the idea, “to show you how fair 
I wish to be: if you girls succeed this time, I will 
leave a considerable sum to the Girl Scout organi¬ 
zation in my will. I have no doubt that it is in 
need of funds?” 

“Oh, yes!” cried Marjorie, her eyes sparkling 
at the thought of so much generosity. She had al¬ 
ways dreamed of doing something such as this for 
the movement, but could never see just how. 

Again she glanced at Miss Vaughn's nephews to 
ascertain how they were taking the announcement, 
for such a gift would necessarily come out of their 
inheritance. This time she thought she perceived a 
sense of irritation which they were making an ef¬ 
fort to conceal. 

“It would be a wonderful thing to do !” she added. 
“I would be glad fo aftempf the automobile trip 
for that reason, if for nothing else.” 

“I will even modify if fo a safe Journey fo Lima, 
where your friend lives,” said Miss Vaughn. “If 
you can reach there—” 

“We can! We can!” exclaimed Daisy, rapturous¬ 
ly. “And we’ll start soon!” 

“As soon as your car comes back from the repair 
shop,” concluded their hostess; “inside of ten da3rs—• 
at the latest.” 


190 


THE GIRL SCOUTS^ 


CHAPTER XVII. 

THE TELEGRAM. 

As soon as the girls left the dining-room they 
one and all made excuses to go to their own apart¬ 
ments. With the exception of Daisy and Florence, 
whom Marjorie had inforaied before breakfast, they 
were all eager to hear of the project in detail. 

‘Tell us all about it, Marj!” begged Ethel, when 
they were seated on the attractively furnished 
screened porch which opened out of Mrs. Reming¬ 
ton’s boudoir. “We want to hear everything!” 

“Well,” began Marjorie, “I suppose that the 
foundation of my plan was laid long ago—^when 
Alice conceived the idea that Mr. McDaniel and 
Mr. Cryton in their red racer were trying to spy 
on us. I didn’t exactly believe that, but I did 
wonder whether Miss Vaughn—or Aunt Emeline, 
as we called her all along-—had arranged for ob¬ 
stacles to be put in our way. Then, when we got 
here, and learned accidentally that her nephews 
would have benefited by our failure, I began to sus- 


[ 


MOTOR TRIP 


191 


pect not only the Crowell boys, but Mr. Cryton and 
Mr. McDaniel as well.” 

‘‘Nevertheless,” she continued, “I never would 
have given the matter another thought if we had all 
received our cars as we deserved.” 

“You’re not logical, Marj!” interrupted Florence. 
“How can you possibly drag Vincent and Clyde into 
it, when all they do is to affirm our innocence? 
These two new men are to blame—and they aren’t 
members of the fraternity that benefits! How do 
you account for that?” 

“Because,” answered Marjorie slowly, “I think 
it’s all a frame-up, a plot against us, and I think 
Wallace and Hitchens were bribed!” 

“Oh, no, Marj!” protested Daisy. “Surely not! 
Not by Clyde—I’m sure of that!” 

“But just look back,” said Marjorie, “and think 
over our mishaps. First the puncture due to tacks— 
scattered by whom?—^next the delay at Mae’s, and 
later at Chicago and the directions which led us 
through the mud; the stolen food and uniforms—” 

“Marj!” exclaimed Lily; “surely you couldn’t 
blame the boys for that! They’d never take our 
clothing!” 

“Why not?” demanded Marjorie; “for who else 
would? And they knew our route, and the con¬ 
ditions of our winning the rewards!” 


192 


THE GIRL SCOUTS^ 


‘‘And how about the bandits and the poor woman 
in the desert?” asked Florence, mockingly. 

“Well, I’m not sure of them—those were things 
which are likely to happen to anybody. And yet 
the boys may have had part in them, for the bandits 
were masked and you remember that the woman 
received a one hundred dollar bill at that hotel— 
perhaps as a bribe!” 

“You certainly have an imagination, Marj 1 ” cried 
Daisy. “I can’t believe that!” 

“Well, maybe that is too much,” admitted the 

“But tell us how you persuaded Aunt Emeline to 
give us a second chance,” begged Alice. 

Marjorie proceeded to relate the conversation of 
the previous evening, stating that her hostess had 
only made her decision known that morning. The 
girls congratulated her heartily upon the brilliancy 
of the idea, and the success in putting it across. 

“But if you believe that all these things were 
planned against us, do you think that it would be 
safe to attempt the trip back?” asked Lily. 
“Wouldn’t Mr. McDaniel and Mr. Cryton lie in 
wait for you again?” 

“No, I don’t think they would,” answered Mar¬ 
jorie. “They are improving under Daisy’s and 
Flos’s influence. If we have any interference, it will 
be from the Crowell boys themselves, for they 


MOTOR TRIP 


193 


won’t care about losing this new slice from their 
inheritance. In fact, I almost believe that if we 
persist in making the trip, they may resort to 
drastic measures.” 

“But you’re not thinking of giving it up for that 
reason, are you, Marj?” asked Lily. 

“No, of course not! Can you see me?” 

“Well—hardly. Only you really don’t want to 
take any dangerous chances—^the trip is enough of a 
strain without that. And besides, what could you 
do to protect yourselves?” 

“I have a plan.” 

“Of course you have, Marj!” exclaimed her chum, 
admiringly. “Don’t you always? Do tell us about 
it!” 

“Yes, do!” pleaded two or three of the others. 

Marjorie’s eyes twinkled mischievously; she loved 
a mystery. 

“Not yet,” she replied, “because it isn’t formu¬ 
lated. Wait till I send a telegram—” 

“A telegram?” repeated Lily. 

“Where? To whom?” demanded several of the 
others. 

“To—Chicago!” answered Marjorie, slowly. 
“But I can’t tell you to whom!” 

“But who is there in Chicago that could help 
us?” asked Ethel. 

“I’ll cell you when I see whether my plan sue- 


394 


THE GIRL SCOUTS' 


ceeds," she announced, smilingly. “Until then—it’s 
a secret. Are you all agreed?” 

“Certainly 1” they all affirmed, with characteristic 
loyalty. 

The teti davs that followed were not particularly 
pleasurable for any of the party. Marjorie, in 
particular, waited with impatience the day of de¬ 
parture, for a return telegram from Chicago had 
promised her the assistance she needed. But though 
the girls were all curious, they, true to their promise, 
refrained from asking questions. 

Miss Vaughn had arranged a picnic for the last 
day of their visit, and Marjorie, who had other 
plans for herself and Ethel, although the latter was 
as much in the dark as any of the others in re¬ 
gard to them, found some difficulty in getting her¬ 
self and her companion excused. Finally, in view 
of the fact that the following day would he a strenu¬ 
ous one and that' they still had some arrangements 
to make, they slipped off and took a taxi to the 
station. 

'^Are you going to let me into the secret at last 
inquired Ethel, as they left Miss Vaughn’s grounds. 

Marjorie nodded, gaily. 

“You’ll know when we get to the station,” she 
replied. 

“The station? Somebody is coming?” 

''Two somebodies,” corrected Marjorie. 


MOTOR TRIP 


195 


Ethel knew that there was no use in plying her 
companion with questions, for Marjorie was enjoy¬ 
ing her suspense. The distance, however, was short, 
ten minutes later the girls had dismissed the taxi 
and were hurrying up the station steps. Hardly had 
they pushed open the door before two familiar 
figures rushed towards them. It was John Hadley, 
and Marjorie’s brother Jack! 

‘‘Hello, Sis!” cried Jack joyously. “We sure are 
glad to see you!” 

“Sh! Jack! Not so loud!” cautioned his sister, 
enjoying the expression of amazement on Ethel’s 
face. “We’re not supposed to be here, and we don’t 
want to be seen or recognized. It’s a plot, you 
know; and it may fall through. We’re not even 
telling the other girls about you.” 

“A plot?” repeated John, who knew only the 
brief message of the telegram which called for help. 
“Tell us about it—” 

“Let’s go eat somewhere,” suggested Jack, “and 
hear the whole story then.” 

As soon as they were seated in a cozy little tea¬ 
room of Marjorie’s selection, and had given their 
order to the waiter, she told her story from begin¬ 
ning to end, concluding with her suspicions con¬ 
cerning' McDaniel and Cry ton and the Crowell boys. 

“But granted that theory is correct, and they did 
try to block you on the way out,” said Jack; “what 


196 


THE GIEL SCOUTS' 


good can we do now ? How can we help you at this 
late stage of the game— 

‘*You can help us very materially/’ answered 
Marjorie. ‘‘Because I expect some sort of attack 
on the way back. Those Crowell boys are never 
going to let us have those cars and some of their 
inheritance without a struggle.” 

“Then you expect Cryton and McDaniel to hold 
you up again?” 

“No, I think they’re out of it. I am looking for 
trouble from the Crowell boys themselves.” 

“Couldn't you fool them by taking a different 
route?” suggested John. 

“We might, though I hardly think so,” replied the 
girl. “And besides I would rather catch them and 
get a confession—it’s the only way we’ll ever get 
it. So Ethel and I have been careful to tell Miss 
Vaughn all the details for the trip in their hear-j 
ing—” 

“Have they said an 3 dhing, one way or the other ?’^' 
asked Jack. i 

“Yes, they’ve tried to discourage us,” answered 
Ethel. “They’ve told us of several instances of 
robberies and hold-ups, and have been warning us 
of dang'er.” 

“And they always tell these stories in front of 
Miss Vaughn,” added Marjorie. 

John nodded his head significantly; the case 


MOTOR TRIP 


197 


against the Crowell boys appeared as clear to him 
as it did to Marjorie. 

‘‘And just what do you want us to do?” he in¬ 
quired. 

“Get a machine and follow us, going when we 
go, and stopping when we stop, but never giving any 
sign of knowing us. And we’ll have a signal—” 

“Yes, the scout whistle!” laughed Jack. “Just 
like last summer!” 

“Three blasts!” put in Marjorie. 

“Three blasts, and we’ll be at your side!” cried 
Jack, his eyes glowing in anticipation of the ad¬ 
venture. “And what are our chances against these 
two young men in a hand to hand struggle?” 

“Oh, splendid!” exclaimed both girls immediately. 

Ethel’s face suddenly darkened. 

“Marj!” she exclaimed, in distress, “If we ac¬ 
cepted help from any boys we’d forfeit our chance 
of earning the cars!” 

“I don’t think so,” reasoned Marjorie; “not this 
time. If we caught the Crowells, we’d get a con¬ 
fession that would clear us and prove that we de¬ 
served the cars for our trip out.” 

“And you actually think those boys would go to 
the extent of attacking girls?” asked John, in¬ 
credulously. “How would that look?” 

“Oh, they’d be masked, or disguised, or some- 


198 


THE GIKL SCOUTS' 


thing. They'd do most anything to keep all that 
money for themselves!" 

‘‘And now," concluded Marjorie, unfolding a piece* 
of paper from her hand-bag, “here are your direc-> 
fions and your map. Follow these closely—you( 
see they even give the hotels where we intend stop-( 
ping—and we shan't see each other to talk to again 
until the end of the trip, or—if something hap-‘ 
pens!" 

“And won't we feel silly if nothing does hap-" 
pen!" remarked Jack. 

“Silly, perhaps, yes," agreed Marjorie, rising; 
“but the whole Girl Scout movement will benefit,, 
and that is worth while, isn't it?" 

“It certainly is," replied John, holding the door( 
open for the girls to pass out. Then, without fur-( 
ther delay, they hurried back to Miss Vaughn's. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE CONVOY. 

When the picnicers returned to Miss Vaughn'sf 
they found Ethel and Marjorie waiting for them oni 
the porch. Lily rushed impetuously towards hen 
chum, anxious to find out immediately what she 



MOTOR TRIP 


109 


had been doing in her absence; but Marjorie checked 
her with a glance towards Miss Vaughn. 

‘‘Did you have a good time?” asked Marjorie, 
carelessly, as if she and Ethel had been at home 
all afternoon. 

“Wc certainly did,” replied Lily, taking the hint. 
“And have you made all your arrangements satis¬ 
factorily?” 

“Yes,” answered the other. “We haven’t so 
much to buy as we had for our trip out, because 
we’re not planning to do any camping.” 

“What?” demanded Milton Crowell, in astonish¬ 
ment. “Then you have changed your plans?” 

Marjorie drew down the corners of her mouth in 
amusement at the young man’s instant display of 
interest. Surely she was correct in her surmise 
that this concern was not prompted by mere idle 
curiosity! 

“Yes—the car would be too crowded if we loaded 
it up with equipment,” she explained. “Besides 
Mrs. Hart is not keen about it, and we must con¬ 
sider her wishes.” 

“Naturally,” he agreed. 

Lily put an abrupt end to this conversation by 
reminding the girls of their need to retire early m 
view of the morrow’s strenuous program. In reality, 
she wanted to be alone with Marjorie to see whether 
she would reveal anything about her occupation 


200 


THE GIKL SCOUTS^ 


during the afternoon. But both Marjorie and Etliel 
refused to divulge the secret. 

“You really expect some sort of midnight raid 
from the Croiwells?’' Lily* asked carelessly^ just 
for something to say. 

“To tell you the truth, Lil,” replied Marjorie, 
“I don’t know what to expect. Since we’re not 
going to camp out, I can’t see just how they can 
work it. But I feel confident that they’ll try some¬ 
thing.” 

“Marj,” said the other girl, seriously, “I begin to 
think that it’s sort of dangerous for you even to at¬ 
tempt the trip back. What if they’d shoot you in a 
lonely place—?” 

“Nonsense, Lil! We’ve got to take some risks. 
Think what it means to us—to Daisy and Flos— 
and to the whole Girl Scout organization!” 

“And as usual you’re ready to defy consequences!” 
retorted Lily. 

“But we always came out all right before, and 
we surely will now!” 

“But we always had the boys to help us,” ob¬ 
jected Lily. 

Marjorie stole a glance at Ethel, but said noth¬ 
ing. 

“But perhaps nothing will happen,” put in Ethel, 
in amusement. “After all, the whole thing is only 
a matter of conjecture.” 


MOTOR TRIP 


201 


“Then since you persist in carrying out your 
plans/* announced Lily, “I have decided to go along 
with you. You’ve got to pack me in somewhere!” 

“No, no, Lily!” protested Marjorie vehemently. 
“We’d love to have you, but you think that it’s 
dangerous and maybe you’re right. Remember 
you’re an only child!” 

“You’ve used that argument before!” 

“And it’s still true!” 

“Well, I’m going, anyhow. Now—listen to this: 
I haven’t made any reservations to go on the train 
with the others!” 

“What?” demanded Marjorie in surprise, 
realizing for the first time that the girl was in 
earnest. 

“No, I haven’t! So you have to take me along 
with you.” 

The argument proved conclusive; Marjorie had 
no idea of subjecting her chum to the weariness of 
a journey to the east alone. Accordingly, when the 
party passed the following morning, Alice and 
Mrs. Remington were the only ones left behind to 
return by rail. 

The seven-passenger car in which they had 
travelled to the Pacific Coast had been completely 
overhauled and pronounced by an expert to be in 
perfect condition for the return trip. But this time 
not one of the party, except possibly Mrs. Hart, 


202 


THE GIEL SCOUTS^ 


looked forward to a smooth and uneventful tour. 
Marjorie even wondered secretly whether they 
would not all be a trifle disappointed if nothing did 
happen. 

And yet when she thought it over she did not 
quite see how an attack could be planned. The 
schedule had been carefully prepared so that there 
need by no driving at night; each sunset was to 
find them at some inn or hotel, and the car safely 
stored for the night in a garage. Whatever took 
place would have to be planned for broad daylight, 
and there seemed to be too much traffic to allow any 
measure of success. Nevertheless she made up her 
mind to keep a sharp look-out for trouble. 

In order to have a change of scenery the girls 
decided not to take the Lincoln Highway, but to 
go home by another route. In her shopping tours 
about San Francisco Marjorie had picked up a very 
complete book, in which was printed not only a 
map of the trip, but a description of the best hotels 
and inns along the way. She had made it a point 
to purchase two copies, one of which she had marked 
for Miss Vaughn's benefit. So, if the Crowell boys 
chose, they could figure out approximately where 
the party would be at each hour of every day. Lily 
had reprimanded her for her daring, saying that 
she was only putting temptation into the young 
men's way and making things more dangerous f«r 


MOTOR TRIP 


203 


herself; but with her usual spirit Marjorie had re¬ 
plied that she loved adventure. 

But by the time that two days had passed without 
the slightest accident to disturb their progress, and 
the Girl Scouts had left the state of California, 
Marjorie herself began to doubt whether there 
would be any excitement. On that very day, how¬ 
ever, they met with the first noteworthy experience. 

It was a hot day; the sun was shining brightly 
and the road upon which they were travelling was 
hard and dry. The girls looked in vain for shade; 
as far as they could see in the distance there was 
no promise of relief. 

'‘No wonder there are so few cars,” remarked 
Ethel, listlessly. "If I had my choice, I’d rather 
stay at home today too.” 

"There must be at least one behind us some¬ 
where,” muttered Marjorie, in a tone too low for 
anyone else to hear. "The boys aren’t far away.” 

"No, replied Ethel. "I think, by the way, that 
they must have stayed at that hotel across the street 
from us last night. I think I caught a glimpse of 
them on the porch when we drove away.” 

"No doubt you did. Doesn’t it seem funny not 
to wait for them, and speak to them?” 

"It must be torture for poor John Hadley!” 
teased Ethel. "You certainly can be cruel, Marj—” 


204 


THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 


‘‘Hush, Ethel!” remonstrated the other. “You'll 
let the cat out of the bag.” 

“I wonder,” remarked Lily, loud enough for the 
whole party to hear, “whether we wouldn’t dare 
turn aside here at the next cross road. This seems 
to be shady, and the guide book says that it is all 
right, and not out of our way.” 

“Fm doubtful of detours,” laughed Marjorie. 
“Our experience before wasn’t so good.’ 

“Oh, there can’t be anything like that,” said Lily. 
“Unless you hate to leave the beaten track, I don’t 
see why we shouldn’t.” 

“I’ll take a chance!” agreed Marjorie, turning in¬ 
to the cross-road. 

Just as the guide-book stated, the route did prove 
more attractive; but, as Marjorie for some unknown 
reason suspected, a surprise awaited them. Hardly 
had they proceeded half a mile before two armed 
men on horseback suddenly appeared from the brush¬ 
wood on the side of the road. 

“I knew it!” whispered Marjorie, her eyes 
alight with expectancy. “The Crowells!” 

“Never!” whispered Ethel. “They’re too old, 
even to be bribed—” 

“We demand a search!” thundered the larger of 
the two men, peering from under his wide hat right 
into the startled eyes of the scouts. “Everyone 
get out, please!” 


MOTOR TRIP 


205 


“A search for what?’’ faltered Mrs. Hart, her 
voice trembling with emotion. 

‘‘For booze! We are sheriffs of the state of 
Nevada I” 

“Let’s see your badge!” challenged Marjorie, fear¬ 
lessly. 

Both men immediately pushed back their coats 
in amusement, and, to the consternation of all the 
scouts, displayed their silver stars. Lily gasped 
in wonder, and Marjorie informally broke into a 
laugh. It was Mrs. Hart who had to remind them 
that they must make haste to comply with the 
command. 

“We really don’t expect to find boot-leggers 
among young ladies,” apologized the milder of the 
two officers, “but it’s a rule to search everybody.” 

“Oh, we don’t mind a bit!” replied Marjorie. 
“We’re so thankful that you’re not bandits or thieves. 
You see we’re used to meeting such people on our 
way.” 

“What?” demanded both officers at once. “We 
thought that these roads were safe for motorists,” 
added one. 

“Safe for everybody but us, it seems,” explained 
Marjorie. “On our way out we were robbed of 
money and food and clothing and a car—” 

“At different times ?” 

“Yes.” 


THE GIRL SCOUTS' 


2 or> 

“And by different persons?” 

“That we donT know,” answered Marjorie. “We 
never caught anybody.” 

“I should say that you need a detective—or a 
body-guard,” remarked the officer, as he indicated 
that the scouts should get into the car. 

“I guess we have one,” muttered Marjorie to her¬ 
self; for, just as she started her engine, a touring 
car with two young men passed the car. To the 
amazement of all but Marjorie and Ethel the girls 
recognized Jack Wilkinson and John Hadley! 

“Am I dreaming?” gasped Lily, ^'or were they 
really Jack and John?” 

Marjorie and Ethel both laughed heartily. 

“The very same,” replied the latter. 

“But how—?” began Daisy. 

Marjorie put her finger over her lips, in warning 
to the girls not to ask any enlightening questions 
before Mrs. Hart. The girls took the hint, and 
though they were sincerely puzzled, kept quiet. 

“Don’t forget Chicago!” remarked Ethel, 
enigmatically. 

“But why Chicago?” demanded Lily. 

“Because John happened to be there on business,” 
Marjorie explained, so Jack went with him, both 
expecting to use their vacations for a lake trip. 
John wrote me from there.” 

‘‘ThanK Heaven!” crieS Lily, settling back into 


MOTOR TRIP 


207 


her seat with a sigh of relief. For in her subtle 
manner, Marjorie had conveyed to the girls that 
they now had protectors. 


CHAPTER XIX. 

THE END OF THE DRIVE. 

As the Girl Scouts entered the dining-room of 
their hotel the following day they looked anything 
but jubilant. The trip through the desert loomed 
up before them, with its tediousness, its ugliness, 
its dangerous aspect. For, in spite of everything 
they said to the contrary, they all secretly believed 
that trouble was in store for them sooner or later. 
And what place could be more opportune than 
the barren waste land of the next three states? 

It was Marjorie who sensed the general depres¬ 
sion of the whole party and made an effort to dis¬ 
pel it. She wished that she might joke about the 
boys who were following them, but that subject 
was still to be kept a secret from Mrs. Hart. In¬ 
stead, therefore, she reminded them of the rewards 
they were to receive. Her vivacity, however, failed 
to draw any spark from the others. 

“We heard all that before, on the way out,” re¬ 
marked Florence, cynically. “And nothing hap- 



208 


THE GIEL SCOUTS' 


peiied. Even if we get there safely, Miss Vaughn, 
will find some other excuse to refuse us.” 

“You don’t seem to think much of our worthy 
benefactor,” observed Ethel. “It’s a lucky thing 
that Alice isn’t along, to hear such opinions of her 
aunt!” 

“Oh, Alice wouldn’t care!” exclaimed Florence. 

“But maybe Mrs. Hart does,” Marjorie reminded 
her. 

- The chaperone smiled knowingly; she was not sur¬ 
prised at the girls’ estimate of her friend’s charac¬ 
ter. Indeed, she had not approved of Miss Vaughn’s 
hasty action herself, yet she saw the difficulty of 
her position. 

“No, I don’t blame you girls a bit,” she assured 
them. “I think it was mean to take those strangers’* 
words in the first place.” 

“And you really do believe that we are innocent, 
don’t you, Mrs. Hart?” demanded Daisy, eagerly. 

“I certainly do!” replied the older woman. “If 
I hadn’t been certain of it, I never would have con¬ 
sented to come with you, for I can’t say that I 
thoroughly enjoy such a long trip. And then there’s 
the desert—” 

“Oh, the desert is all right!” interrupted Mar¬ 
jorie. “We got through it before, and we will this 
time. Please don’t worry, Mrs. Hart.” 

“No, let’s forget it,'’ urged Ethel, falling in with 


MOTOR TRIP 


20J> 

Marjorie’s eiffort to raise the spirits of the party. 
“We’re safe for tonight—nothing can happen to us 
now!” 

“I hope not!” sighed Lily, who was never quite 
at ease. 

Long after supper was over the girls sat out on 
the pleasant porch of the hotel and contemplated 
the loveliness of the scene, trying, it would seem, to 
absorb enough beauty to last them during the com¬ 
ing days. Then, as darkness came on they grew 
more and more quiet until Ethel suggested that they 
go to bed. 

“Did you make sure that the car was safe.^” 
asked Lily, as usual. It was a habit of hers to make 
such an inquiry each night before retiring. 

“Yes,” returned Marjorie, laughingly. “The 
garage-man bolted the big door on the inside, and 
then let himself out through the office. That’s a 
dead-latch—and he has the only key in his posses¬ 
sion.” 

“We ought to be safe then,” remarked Daisy, 
with a sigh of relief. “Unless the garage burns 
down 1” 

“Daisy, how can you suggest such a thing!” cried 
Ethel. “Wait till we get upstairs! If I don’t put 
your head under the cold water spigot—” 

“Just try and catch me!” challenged the other, 
darting nimbly up the stairs. 


210 


THE GIEL SCOUTS' 


But when the girls reached their rooms they dis¬ 
covered that they were too tired to romp; the 
seriousness of their undertaking, the prospect of the 
trip through the desert which was before them, 
dampened their spirits, and they lost no time in get¬ 
ting into bed. 

Marjorie had promised to awaken them with her 
alarm clock, but she found the summons unneces¬ 
sary. Long before eight, they were all dressed, 
ready for their departure. 

‘Who drives today?” asked Lily, as they were 
finishing their breakfast. 

“Ethel,” replied Marjorie, without a moment’s 
hesitation. 

“Then, Ethel,” remarked Lily, “you have to go 
out and get the car and bring it around to us!” 

“And be sure to have plenty of gas!” cautioned 
Florence. 

“And don’t forget oil!’ added someone. 

“And water!” put in another. 

Ethel raised her hands to her ears. 

“That’s enough advice, please! Somebody get 
my bag, and I’ll meet you all there at the side steps.” 

“Don’t forget the car!” teased Florence, provok- 
ingly. 

The remark was only a jest, uttered with the 
hope of getting a rise out of Ethel; therefore none 
of the scouts was surprised to see her appear, two 


MOTOR TRIP 


211 


or three minutes later, without the car. It was so 
like Ethel to return tit for tat, and to keep them 
waiting, for punishment. 

‘'Ethel, please don't waste time,” remonstrated 
Mrs. Hart, nervous to be off. 

“Yes—^hurry!” cried Florence, in a tone of corn- 
mand. 

But Ethel only stood still and shook her head. 

“I can't get the car,” she said, sadly; “because 
the car is gone!” 

Marjorie looked up sharply; surely it was unlike 
Ethel to carry a joke so far. 

“You're teasing us!” she said. 

But the look on Ethel's serious face assured the 
girls that she was not jesting. 

“It's the honest truth, girls,” she declared; “it's 
gone, and neither the proprietor nor the garage- 
man knows a thing about it.” 

With the exception of Marjorie, the girls grew 
hysterical as the meaning of the whole situation 
dawned upon them. Unsatisfied with Ethel's scant 
report, they rushed to the garage to make inquiry 
for themselves. 

“It's a fact,” said the man, in answer to their 
numerous questions, most of which were put to him 
at the same time. “And we haven’t a sign of a 
clue!” 

“But how did the thief get in?” demanded Mar- 


212 THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 

jorie. “If you have the only key? Was either lock 
broken?” 

“No, ma’am.” 

Marjorie looked at him keenly; it was impossible 
to accuse him of the theft. And yet how else could 
the car have left the garage? She felt baffled, de¬ 
feated; here was another mystery which looked as 
if it never would be solved! 

“So the whole trip is off!” wailed Daisy, bursting 
into tears as they returned to the hotel. “And you 
girls have all lost your rewards—^just on our ac¬ 
count 1” 

“No, no, don’t feel badly, “Daisy,” said Lily, put¬ 
ting her arm around the other girl’s shoulder. “We’re 
not blaming you—” 

By the time they had reached the hotel, the news 
had spread, and guests and clerks alike came for¬ 
ward with all sorts of offers of help. But somehow 
they felt at last as if there were nothing to do. 

“Did you carry insurance?” asked Mrs. Hart of 
Marjorie. 

“Oh, yes,” replied the latter, “but not nearly 
enough to cover the cost of a new car. Besides, it 
takes a good while to get the money; and even if 
we borrowed it, we’d never secure a new car in 
time to make the trip on schedule.” She paused a 
second, evidently making a mighty effort to control 


MOTOR TRIP 


213 


herself. “We—we—^will have to use the rest of 
our money to go back by rail.’’ 

“You certainly have had hard luck!” commented 
the older woman, sympathetically. “Fm awfully 
sorry.” 

“The fates were against us!” sighed Florence, 
wearily. 

“Let’s—^let’s go to our rooms again!” whispered 
Daisy. “I just can’t help crying—” 

“All right—we’ll go have a good cry!” assented 
Lily. “Maybe that will help.” 

Laughing and weeping at the same time, the 
scouts made their way to the second floor, to dis¬ 
cuss their plight in view of their most advisable 
move. 

“Anyway, we don’t have to drive across the 
desert,” remarked Marjorie. 

“But what shall we do?” asked Florence. 

“Go home, of course,” said Ethel. 

“I’m not so sure of that,” put in Marjorie, who 
was slowly regaining her courage. “That may not 
be practical. In the first place, it might be difficult 
to secure good accommodations from here back to 
the east; and in the second place, I’d like to see 
our friends again.” 

“What friends?” demanded Florence. 

“Aunt Emeline and the Crowells. I’m simply 
not content to let the matter drop—I mean about 


214 


THE GIKL SCOUTS^ 


all those misfortunes which we met with on the 
way out. Why, even those two officers thought it 
was unusual.^’ 

“I wonder,mused Lily, ‘‘whether we ever would 
have found out, if this hadn't happened. It hardly 
seems possible—" 

“It wouldn't have seemed possible on the way 
out if we hadn't known that it was a fact," Mar¬ 
jorie reminded her. “Imagine having one's cloth¬ 
ing stolen!" 

“But how do you think you can find out anything 
now?" inquired Daisy. 

“I don't know—only by some sort of detective 
work, like we managed last summer. Now my plan 
is this: to wait here until Jack and John turn up 
later in the day, consult them, and ask them to help 
us. What do you all think ?" 

Daisy suddenly heaved a great sigh; she was 
weary of the whole proceeding. 

“I'm going home!" she announced. “Before we 
get into any more trouble. Who will go with 
me?” 

“I will!” volunteered Florence, immediately. “I 
don’t want to go back and paw around that old 
lady as if to beg her for a car. I guess we can get 
accommodations on some train." 

“I'm with you, Flos and Daisy,” declared Ethel, 
briefly. 


MOTOR TRIP 


215 


“But won’t anybody help me?” begged Marjorie. 
“Aren’t you a bit curious ?” 

“I’ll stick with you, Marj I” said Lily. “At least 
until the boys come and we get their advice.” 

“Oh, thank you, Lily!” exclaimed Marjorie, im¬ 
pulsively hugging her chum. “Now we will find 
out something!” 

“If there’s anything to be found out!” remarked 
Florence, cynically. 

The others lost no time in consulting time-tables, 
and phoning about reservations, and found, to their 
joy, that they could leave at noon on a train for 
Chicago. Marjorie and Lily looked rather wistful 
as the locomotive pulled out of the station, leaving 
them all alone, save for Mrs. Hart, in this strange 
town. They had been secretly hoping all morning 
that the boys would arrive before the others left; 
now, as they turned their faces back toward the 
hotel it was their one thought. But the clerk’s 
answer to their inquiry was just the same as be¬ 
fore: no one had called for them. 

“Can you imagine what could have happened to 
them?” asked Marjorie. “I thought I caught a 
glimpse of them over at that hotel across the street, 
about supper time last night. Surely they wouldn’t 
start without us.” 

“And they must have heard about the stolen car,” 


216 


THE GIRL SCOUTS' 


added Lily. “The police are investigating it al¬ 
ready." 

The girls returned listlessly to Mrs. Hart^s room 
and found her engaged in the process of packing. 
She looked up gloomily at their entrance, and in¬ 
formed them that she was returning to San Fran¬ 
cisco on the morrow. 

“And so," she concluded, “if you two young 
ladies want a chaperone, you will have to go too." 

“I guess it's the only thing to do," admitted Mar¬ 
jorie, regretfully. “So we might as well pack our 
things, Lily." 

In her speech and her thought Marjorie Wilkin¬ 
son was as near to acknowledgement of defeat as she 
had ever been in her life. 


MOTOR TRIP 


217 


CHAPTER XX. 

ALL SET. 

After the girls left the restaurant on the eve 
of their return trip, John and Jack went back to 
their table and smoked a while in silence. Both had 
been surprised by the boldness of Marjorie's plan; 
yet both attached importance to the fact that she 
had considered it necessary to summon them from 
Chicago for assistance. And each young man secret¬ 
ly entertained a feeling of pride at her dependence. 

‘‘Well, what do you think there is to it?" asked 
Jack. 

“Something, of course," replied John. “Mar¬ 
jorie never goes off at a tangent." 

“I’d like to meet these Crowell fellows," observed 
the other. 

“Well, we did meet those two chaps at Mae’s— 
and you know I didn’t think much of them. I 
have to admit I’ve been sort of worried all summer, 
though I hardly expected anything like this." 

“You agree with Marj that they’ll try something 
again?" 


218 


THE GIEL SCOUTS' 


‘T do—and I don’t,” replied John, thoughtfully. 
‘Tf they’re as scheming as your sister believes them 
to be, they’ll see that she is on. Yet, as she says, 
they’d hate to kiss all that money goodbye.” 

“You bet!” agreed Jack. “But I can’t conceive 
that they would try to pull off anything serious, as 
Marj seems to think probable. Two young fellows 
of their type would have more sense.” 

“No, neither can I—if they try to work the stunt 
themselves. The thing that worries me is that they 
might hire some one else to do their dirty work for 
them—a couple of desperate characters, for instance, 
who wouldn’t know where to stop.” 

“That’s so!” frowned Jack. “Gee! I’m glad 
we’re here! We’ll have to be on the job all the time, 
and never let them get out of our sight. The first 
thing we want to do is to get a car—not a flivver, 
but a good, fast car—^that will keep up with theirs.” 

“I guess we could hire a car of that description,” 
nodded John. 

“But where? No one out here knows who we 
are, and people don’t hire out good cars to perfect 
strangers, you know.” 

“That’s true,” acknowledged John, rubbing his 
chin thoughtfully. Suddenly he struck the table 
with his fist. “I have it! My firm has a branch 
office in this city, and the fellow who is manager 
learned his job in the same office with me. We were 


MOTOR TRIP 


219 


great chums. I’ll call Ted Fisher on the phone, 
and he’ll be able to help us out.” 

‘'Good!” exclaimed Jack. “Let’s clear out of here 
and get a move on.” 

They called for their bill, and then made for the 
nearest phone. The friend was located without 
difficulty in the telephone directory, and a moment 
later John was in a booth holding an animated con¬ 
versation. Jack, who was waiting outside, saw John 
hang up and come out smiling. 

“Ted’s going to look after us!” he announced, 
gleefully. “He evem says he thinks he can get us 
a car just like the girls! so that, barring accidents, 
they’ll not be able to travel faster than we can. 
We’re to wait here for Ted; he’ll be along in ten 
minutes.” 

“I was just thinking while you were in there 
phoning,” mused Jack. “Suppose we are able to 
hire a car, and trail the girls all the way to Lima 
without anything happening. Who is going to 
drive the car back?” 

“That would be a jolt, now wouldn’t it?” con¬ 
sidered John, thoughtfully. “But why worry about 
that now? We’ll take a tip from General Grant, 
and cross that bridge when we come to it!” 

“What’s General Grant got to do with it?” said 
Jack mournfully. “He won’t be in Lima to drive 
the car back.” 


220 


THE GIKL SCOUTS^ 


John threw back his head and laughed heartily, 
had in mind that story of how, when someone 
asked him what retreat he had provided for in case 
a certain offensive failed, he said ‘WeVe not going 
to retreat!' If nothing happens, I guess we can 
get in touch with the owner of the car and have him 
send on some reliable person to drive it back. But 
why worry ? It is my opinion, that if those fellows 
are going to interfere, they’ll do it before they get 
too far from home; for why should they be any 
more anxious than we are to take such a long 
drive. Their absence might cause suspicion.” 

Here John turned to greet a tall young man who 
was advancing upon him with outstretched hand. 

“Hello, Ted!” 

“Hadley, old man, you’re the last person in the 
world I expected to see out here! How come?” 

“It’s a long story,” replied John, introducing him 
to Jack. 

“Jack Wilkinson, did you say?” exclaimed Ted 
Fisher, shaking Jack’s hand. “Why, I remember 
that name well. You were John’s side-partner in 
several other enterprises. Now, what are you two 
up to? I hope you’ll surrender yourselves to my 
tender mercies for this evening, at least.” 

“We’re yours for this evening, Ted, with 
pleasure,” acquiesced John. “And we are depend¬ 
ing on you to get that car for us.” 


MOTOR TRIP 


221 


“Yes, I think I can do that. Let’s go; I have 
my own outside.” 

When they were in the car, he asked: 

“Do you mind telling what you want the car 
for, or is it a secret?” 

John looked at Jack, who nodded his head ap- 
provingly; and they proceeded to outline their plans, 
without divulging any names. 

“Some adventure!” remarked John’s friend. “I 
wish I could go with you myself!” 

They stopped before a public garage and entered 
the office where a man sat working at a roll-top 
desk. He rose respectfully when he recognized their 
companion. 

“Good evening. Captain. What can I do for 
you?” 

“Tom, here are two very good friends of mine, 
Mr. Hadley and Mr. Wilkinson. They must have 
a car for a week or so. And Tom, Mr. Hadley 
is a cracl:er°jack automobile man, and I know for 
a fact that he would take better care of a machine 
than I would; so I want you to let him have the 
one I used while mine was being overhauled. I’ll 
guarantee that it will come back to you in as good 
shape as when it leaves.” 

“When do you want it? I had it out the other 
night and picked up a phonograph needle in the 
rear tire.” 


222 


THE GIKL SCOUTS’ 


‘‘Tomorrow morning, at six o’clock. And the 
puncture won’t matter, Tom. I want you to put on 
four brand-new tires, of the best make in your shop. 
And you’d better put a new spare on the back. 
Charge ’em to me. And as a special favor, I want 
you personally to give the engine a thorough looking 
over, and see that she has all the oil and gas she’ll 
carry. By six A. M., Tom.” 

“She’ll be ready. We’ll start to work right away. 
Shall we take a look at her?” 

They stepped out into the garage, where Tom 
called to two mechanics who were working on an 
expensive limousine. 

“Come on, you guys. Put that prairie schooner 
on the shelf for a while.” 

“Mr. Hughes is coming for this tomorrow morn¬ 
ing,” observed one of the men, hesitating. 

“I know. Let Mr. Hughes wait! This is a 
special job for Mr. Fisher.” 

They followed the foreman over to the far corner 
of the garage where two big low touring cars with 
streamline bodies stood side by side. 

“What’s this, Tom, what’s this? Which is our 
car?” asked Fisher. 

The two machines were identical. Except for the 
fact that one showed signs of having been on the 
road lately, while the other was clean and bright 


MOTOR TRIP 


223 


with a new set of tires, it would have been hard to 
tell them apart. 

‘Twins, by Jove!” exclaimed Jack. 

John, when he beheld the newer car, started vio¬ 
lently and stared in silence. 

The foreman, Tom, was chuckling to himself. 

“Sister ships, I call ’em. Funny thing; here you 
come, asking me to put our car in Ai condition, 
with a new set of tires, by six o’clock tomorrow. 
We’ve just finished doing the same thing to this 
one for a party of Girl Scouts. They’re cornin’ 
for her at eight o’clock tomorrow; they motored 
here all the way from Philadelphia, and they’re 
startin’ back tomorrow. Some girls!” 

All three young men exchanged amused glances 
during this recital. It was evident that the girls’ 
performance had gained the man’s admiration. 

“The car looks fine after coming all that distance,” 
remarked John, carelessly. “They must have taken 
good care of it. Is it in good shape for the re¬ 
turn?” 

“Fine! These are some cars! I asked the young 
lady who seemed to be the leader of the crowd how 
they came to pick out this particular make, and she 
said a friend of hers who knew cars picked it out. 
I’ll say he knew something. Well, I got to get to 
work if you gentlemen are to have this boat by 
six o’clock.” 


224 


THE GIEL SCOUTS' 


When they reached the street, Jack exclaimed, 
“Talk about luck! You’d better hold on to me, 
Hadley, or FlI be doing a war-dance right here on 
the pavement!” 

“Ted, you wonderful fellow!” cried John. “When 
I called on you for help I had an idea it would be a 
good deal like rubbing a magical lamp, but you’re a 
far more powerful genie than I ever dreamed. 
What’s the secret of your hold on that man Tom?” 

Ted Fisher looked pleased at the obvious appre¬ 
ciation of the two friends. Yet he hesitated be¬ 
fore he answered: 

“Maybe I never told you I was captain of a 
dough-boy outfit in France during the war. Tom 
was one of my sergeants. Well,—one night I 
helped him get out of a tight place; so I’m sort of 
special pet of his. That’s all. Tom’s the best auto¬ 
mobile mechanic I krK>w ctf. He said you could 
have the car by six o’clock; so you can depend on 
him. Now forget it. You said you were mine for 
the evening, you know.” 

And he motioned them into the waiting car. 


MOTOR TRIP 


225 


CHAPTER XXL 

PURSUIT. 

The next morning* John and Jack were stirring* as 
soon as the first gray light of dawn filtered through 
their bedroom windows. 

‘'Let’s get up,” suggested John. “No use trying 
to sleep any more. I’m going to take a cold shower 
—no telling when Fll get another.” 

By five o’clock they were dressed and had packed 
their handbags, and were ready to leave the hotel. 

“We’ll go out somewheres and get a good sub¬ 
stantial breakfast, and go around to the garage for 
the car.” 

They strolled around until they found a restaurant 
whose sign announced that it was open day and 
night. When they were seated opposite each other 
Jack addressed his companion across the porcelain 
table-top: 

“Tell me what you think of this. They told us at 
the garage last night that the girls weren’t coming 
for their car until eight o’clock. If we go for ours 
at six, we’ll have two hours to fool around before 
they come, and two hours of waiting will seem 


226 


THE GIEL SCOUTS’ 


like ten. Let’s get our car, drive a little piece down 
the street, and wait there until we see what girl 
comes for the car. If it’s Marjorie or Ethel, we 
can show ourselves, find out how things are going, 
and make sure there has been no change of plans.” 

“Fine!” agreed John. “And if it’s Marjorie who 
comes for the car, we can show her ours. She’ll 
be glad to know we have been so lucky.” 

“Great! And won’t her eyes pop out when she 
sees it! She’ll think we have hers. I’ll have a little 
fun with her.” 

“If you can be separated from those hot-cakes, 
let’s be going. We want to be at the garage just 
at six o’clock, and show that man Tom we were in 
earnest.” 

As the last piece of syrupy hot-cake disappeared 
from his plate. Jack looked up in horror. 

“Say! We forgot something!” 

“What?” 

“Suppose the garage burned down last night and 
our cars were destroyed!” 

“Of all the fool notions,” laughed John, “you cer¬ 
tainly can think up the damdest!” 

“What would General Grant have said in a case 
like that?” 

“Quit your kidding, you idiot, and come on!” 

At the garage they found the foreman and his 
two men cleaning up. 


MOTOR TRIP 


227 


‘‘Just got finished, gentlemen. She's all ready, and 
it yet wants five minutes till six," he called, glancing 
up at the shop clock. 

“Great work!" commended John. “Ted Fisher 
said you wouldn't fail us!" And by the expression 
on the man's face, John knew that he could not 
have said anything that would have pleased him 
more. 

The boys drove down the street for a short dis¬ 
tance to the block below, turned around, and parked 
along the curb in a position to command a view of 
the garage. They whiled away the time in admiring 
their own car, and, when they had tired of that, 
in watching the people hurrying along to their day’s 
work. When it approached eight o'clock, they be¬ 
gan to feel restless. Jack was pulling out his watch 
every other minute, until John begged him to let 
it alone. Then, at ten minutes before the hour they 
saw turning the comer of the street, not only Mar¬ 
jorie, but Ethel as well. John started the car and 
overtook them before they could reach the garage. 

“My goodness!" exclaimed Marjorie, when she 
became aware of their presence, “am I in my right 
senses? Have you two been stalking us?" 

“Not quite,” replied John. “We just thought 
we'd let you know we are ready and on the ’job!" 

But to Jack's chagrin, his sister was so glad to 
see them that she failed to notice the car they were 


228 


THE GIKL SCOUTS^ 


seated in. Not so Ethel, however. She noticed it 
immediately, and cried out: 

‘‘How in the world did you get hold of our 
car?” 

Jack's face brightened perceptibly. 

“Is this your car?” he asked, innocently. 

“It certainly is!” exclaimed Marjorie indignantly, 
stepping back to look it over. 

“Why, the man did say it belonged!:© some girls, 
now.that I think of it!” exclaimed Jack. “But he 
said they wouldn't need it for a few weeks!” 

“What man?” demanded Marjorie, her eyes 
flashing. 

“In the garage there,” replied Jack. 

“The villain!” cried the enraged girl, starting off 
immediately for the garage. 

“Hold on a minute. Sis!” 

Marjorie turned and saw them laughing at her. 
She stood frowning at them a moment, and came 
back again. 

“I should know my own brother by this time. 
What trick are you trying to play on us ?” 

“Did you think that after they made your car, 
they broke the mold?” asked Jack. 

“Why, is this another one just like ours?” cried 
Marjorie, delighted. 

“What else?” answered John; and he proceeded 
to explain their good fortune in obtaining the car. 


MOTOR TRIP 


22!> 

wonderful! Marvelous! I hope we’re as 
lucky with the rest of the trip. We must hurry 
along now, or the girls will wonder what is detain¬ 
ing us.” 

“No change in plans?” 

“No change! Don’t lose us!” 

“Never fear! We’ll be with you at the finish. 
Goodbye, and good luck!” 

They waited where they were until they saw the 
girls leave the garage in their car, and then fol¬ 
lowed at a distance. The journey had begun. All 
that day the boys continued to follow, stopping when 
the girls stopped, but always keeping far enough 
in the rear to avoid attracting attention. So long 
as they could just see the leading car, or a cloud 
of dust before them, they were satisfied that they 
could overtake it quickly, if necesasry. At regular 
intervals they changed places at the wheel in order 
to prevent fatigue. Jack was in a high humor; 
for he was an exceptionally good driver, and to be 
at the steering-wheel of a good car spelled heaven 
for him. He was immensely pleased at the steady 
pace the girls were setting; they seemed to be 
fairly eating up the miles. John sat grim and silent 
most of the time, with that look of determination 
his face always wore when embarked on some 
serious enterprise. 

Nothing happened during the day to arouse their 


230 


THE GIEL SCOUTS’ 


suspicions. They went steadily on, overtaking and 
passing other cars at times, but never being passed 
themselves. Late in the afternoon tliey entered one 
of the larger towns on their route where the party 
had planned to spend the night. They were care¬ 
ful not to drive past the hotel where the scouts 
had engaged rooms, but sought instead a smaller 
place nearby, put up their car for the night, and 
had dinner. They went to bed early, reasoning that 
the girls would do so after their long drive. 

As on the day previous they were up the next 
morning at dawn, breakfasted and waited around 
until they saw the girls start, then took up the trail 
once more. As the day wore on, and nothing hap¬ 
pened to break the monotony of the drive. Jack be¬ 
gan to grow impatient and remarked that the enemy 
had gotten cold feet. The words were no sooner 
out of his mouth than both became aware of the 
fact that they were rapidly overtaking the car in 
front, although they had not increased their speed. 
Then they saw that the girls had stopped. 

“Here’s where we come in at last!” cried Jack, 
who happened to be driving. 

A sudden burst of speed brought them close to 
the girls in a minute’s time, and as Jack slowed 
down to get his bearings, they saw two horsemen 
searching the scout car. Then John suddenly re¬ 
membered that Ted Fisher had told them that their 


MOTOR TRIP 231 

car would probably be searched for liquor at the 
Nevada state line if they used this road 

‘‘A booze search!’^ he hastily reminded Jack. 
‘‘TheyVe all right; but weVe too close now not 
to be discovered. Pass them at full speed, or we*ll 
be stopped ourselves!” 

They whizzed by the group before the men were 
aware of their existence. 

“Gave them the go-by!” cried Jack, exultantly, 
as he slowed down again. 

“But Fm afraid the girls recognized us!” said 
John. 

“What’s the difference? Fm glad we escaped 
being held up for a search; but now we’ve gone 
and reversed the order of things, and we have to 
lead instead of follow.” 

Now that they thought the girls knew of their 
presence, they did not trouble to keep out of sight, 
realizing that so long as they acted as strangers, 
Mrs. Hart would suspect nothing. When they 
reached the town on the border of the desert, they 
searched for the hotel given in the girls’ schedule, 
and engaged rooms for themselves in another across 
the street. They did not wait to put the car away, 
but left it standing in the hotel yard; for they were 
anxious to be out of sight when the girls arrived. 
From a window overlooking the street, they saw 
the scouts alight, with the exception of Marjorie, 


232 


THE GIKL SCOUTS^ 


who drove the car into the garage adjoining their 
hotel. When she reappeared they were tempted to 
go out and intercept her, but thought better of it. 

‘‘Let's go to the dining-room," suggested Jack, 
“Fm hungry as a bear!" 

“You always are I" answered his companion. 

They chose a table by a window from which they 
could see the hotel opposite, hoping to catch sight 
of the girls again. A long while after dinner they 
sat there, resting and smoking. They saw the 
garage-man lock up his place and go off to supper; 
after that, except for an occasional horseman, the 
street was deserted. The long drive and the hearty 
meal made both boys feel drowsy. Jack was about 
to suggest that they go out to hunt a garage, when 
John leaped to his feet, upsetting the water carafe. 
Grasping Jack's arm he pointed across the street to 
the garage. Jack looked, and to his amazement be¬ 
held the girls’ car standing outside the closed doors. 

“What the deuce!" he muttered. “Can it be that 
they are going on again tonight?" 

“It’s not on the schedule," said John. 

“Shall we investigate?" 

“No! Sit still! I think the play js about to 
commence! Let’s wait for our cues!" 

At this announcement, the film of sleepiness 
cleared instantly from Jack’s brain. 

“Look!" 


MOTOR TRIP 


233 


The door of the garage office opened slowly. 
Suddenly a young man came out, his cap pulled 
down over his eyes. Closing the door after him, he 
took one hasty glance up and down the street, 
jumped into the girls' machine and drove off. 

Without one word, the two boys dashed for their 
own car. They found it as they had left it. 

“You drivel" cried John. 

They sprang to their places. Jack at the wheel, 
John in the seat beside him. 

“Good thing we had the old boat handy 1" 

“You bet!" replied Jack, guiding the car out into 
the road. 

“Jackie, my boy, I always did admire your driv¬ 
ing. Now's your chance to show what you really 
can do." 

“Watch me! I’ll get ’im," came the confident 
answer. 

Already the car was leaping under them, respond¬ 
ing under Jack's hands like a live thing, and gather¬ 
ing speed all the time. 

Fortunately, the thief had headed for the desert, 
to which there was but the one road. The boys had 
but to overtake him; there was no chance of his 
eluding them by another road. This they both 
realized, and the thought gave them confidence. 

Ahead they could see a cloud of dust which en¬ 
veloped the fleeing car. 


234 


THE GIKL SCOUTS’ 


“We’re gaining!” said John. 

Jack nodded grimly, and put on more speed. They 
were, indeed, drawing closer; for they could begin 
to discern the outline of the stolen machine. Slowly, 
they gained until they could make out a figure at 
the wheel. Then, as slowly, the figure vanished; 
and finally the car itself. 

“He’s pulling away from us!” cried John. “He 
probably sees us!” 

Jack had his eyes rivited on the road ahead; he 
did not answer, but John could feel their speed 
increase. 

“Go to it, boy I” he yelled, in admiration. “You’ll 
get him yet!” 

And after all, why should they not? Their cars 
were alike, both capable of about the same speed. 
And the advantage, if there were any, lay with them¬ 
selves, who had an extra man to ballast the sway¬ 
ing machine. But they would have to overtake him 
soon, while the daylight lasted, and it could not last 
much longer. 

“It’s up to the superior driver!” concluded John; 
and glancing at the cool, determined figure at the 
wheel by his side, he felt his anxiety pass away. He 
took his revolver from his pocket and examined it. 

“We’re gaining again!” he announced a moment 
later. 

Slowly, inch by inch, it seemed, they were creep- 


MOTOR TRIP 


235 


ing closer to the car ahead. But could they hold 
to such a pace? The rush of hot wind almost took 
their breath away; particles of sand beat like needles 
against their faces and into their eyes, almost blind¬ 
ing them; and the car swayed from side to side 
like mad, threatening every moment to overturn. 
Jack, bent double over the steering-wheel, was giv¬ 
ing her all she would take, staking all on this last 
burst of speed, which was so terrific that it seemed 
as if the earth were turning under them, opening, 
about to swallow them up. 

But it was too much for the other driver, who 
was travelling as fast as his nerve, skill, and fear 
permitted him. The boys were gaining rapidly; 
and when they were about fifty yards apart, John 
leaned over and yelled in Jack’s ear: 

‘T’m going to shoot over his head, and see whether 
that will stop him I” 

He raised his revolver and fired carefully, but the 
swaying cars altered his aim, and the ball shattered 
the windshield of the scouts’ car. But this display 
of hostility had the desired effect. The pursued car 
immediately began to slow down, and continued to 
do so until it came to a stop. 

‘‘What are you fellows trying to do?” blustered 
the frightened young man at the wheel, as the boys 
came to a halt beside him. 

“Arrest a very dirty thief!” replied John prompt- 


236 


THE GIKL SCOUTS’ 


ly, covering him with his revolver. “Hands up! 
Now, stand up! Jack, just feel in his pockets and 
see whether he’s armed.” 

Jack drew a small revolver from the man’s side- 
pocket and transferred it to his own. 

“Who are you? Highwaymen?” 

“We represent private interests,” replied Jack, 
grinning. 

“Now tell us your name,” said John, “and what 
you are doing with this carl” 

“What’s that to you?” 

“All right; don’t tell us then! But maybe you’ll 
tell the police authorities when we turn you over 
to them!” 

“No, no! Don’t do that!” begged the prisoner, 
thoroughly cowed. “You say you represent private 
interests. I’ll tell you all, if you promise not to 
•lock me up.” 

John considered a moment. 

“Your name is Crowell, isn’t it?” he asked. 

The other started, but nodded in affirmation. 

“Which are you—Milton or Vaughn?” 

“Vaughn. How did you know?” 

“Never mind that! Just tell us the story!” 

“Will you promise not to hand me over, if I do ?” 

“Can’t tell till I hear the story,” replied John. 

Vaughn Crowell pondered this, then said: 

“I guess I’ll take a chance!” 


MOTOR TRIP 


237 


The recital was a sorry one, but he told it all. 
It was dark by the time he had finished. John 
reached forward and turned on the headlights. 

‘Tt's the meanest trick I ever heard of, Crowell! 
No one with common decency would have thought 
of such a thing! But I’ll tell you what I’ll do. If 
my chum agrees, I’ll let you off provided you go 
with us straight to Miss Vaughn, your aunt, and 
tell her all you’ve told us. How about it, Jack?” 

‘‘Suits me!” 

“I’ll do it!” decided Vaughn. “When do we 
start ?” 

“Right away,” answered John. “But first, please 
oblige me by stepipng a few paces away while I 
have speech with my friend here. There, there, 
that’s far enough!” 

Turning to Jack, he said in an undertone: 

“How does this plan suit you? You take our 
car and go ahead, and I’ll follow with Crowell in 
the girls’ car. I’ll make him drive, and I’ll see 
that he doesn’t get away with anything!” 

“Fine!” agreed Jack. “Triumphal march! For 
us, at least. But if I were in his shoes, I think 
I’d rather face jail than that old lady, judging from 
what I’ve heard of her.” 

“So I’m thinking!” laughed John. “And Jack, old 
man!” he added, placing his hand affectionately upon 
his chum’s shoulder, “you sure are some driver!” 


238 


THE GIKL SCOUTS' 


CHAPTER XXII. 

CONFESSIONS. 

When Mrs. Hart and the two girls returned to 
Miss Vaughn's palacial home, they found the old 
lady alone. Her nephews, she explained, had gone 
off on a camping trip, in Milton’s car. 

‘Tn what direction did they go?’' asked Marjorie, 
suspiciously. 

‘T hardly know," replied her hostess. "They 
didn’t leave any address—or tell me when they 
would be back again. Now tell me all about your 
own experience.’’ 

As briefly as possible the girl related the story 
of the stolen car, ending with the departure of the 
other three scouts for the east. 

"And Lily and I are going as soon as we can 
arrange for accommodations," she concluded. 

"No? No!’’ protested Miss Vaughn. "Not with¬ 
out your motor-car, Marjorie! If ever a girl earned 
one, that girl is you!’’ 

But Marjorie shook her head decidedly. 

"Never will I accept one until Daisy’s and Flor- 


MOTOR TRIP 


239 


ence's innocence is proved. And there doesn’t seem 
to be any hope of doing that!” 

“Why not change your mind, Emeline, and be¬ 
lieve the girls?” put in Mrs. Hart. “I know that 
they are telling the truth!” 

“No, we wouldn’t accept that?” protested Lily, 
with spirit. “But I do think Marj might take 
hers!” 

“Well, I won’t!” returned the other. “So let’s 
don’t talk about it any more.” 

“Visitors are coming, Emeline,” interrupted Mrs. 
Hart from her place beside the window. “Why— 
I do believe it’s Milton!” 

“Milton Crowell?” demanded Marjorie, in sur¬ 
prise. 

“Yes—in his car.” 

“And isn’t Vaughn with him?” asked the boys’ 
aunt. 

They all looked up expectantly as the young man 
entered the room. He appeared rather embarrassed 
at the presence of the girls, but greeted his aunt 
with his customary kiss. 

“Have a nice time?” asked Miss Vaughn. 

“Yes—^yes—^fine,” he stammered. 

“Where’s Vaughn?” 

“Why—-er—he’ll be along some time later, I ex¬ 
pect. He went off fishing with a bunch of fellows, 
and didn’t know just how long he’d be gone.” 


240 


THE GIRL SCOUTS’ 


“Aren’t you surprised to see the girls again?” 
questioned his aunt. 

“Why—yes, of course. What—er—happened? 
Not bandits—?” 

“Our car was in a garage for the night, and was 
stolen from there,” replied Marjorie, watching the 
young man narrowly to see what the news would 
mean to him. But if he was pleased at the idea 
of keeping all that money for himself and his 
brother, he did not allow his expression to betray 
him. 

“Really? I’m awfully sorry!” he murmured, 
with apparent sincerity. “You girls certainly do 
have hard luck!” 

Again Marjorie eyed him suspiciously; was it 
possible that he and his brother had had a hand 
in the theft? It seemed scarcely possible that their 
car could have been stolen at random, by some or¬ 
dinary thief. And yet, how could these young men 
have obtained entrance to a locked garage? The 
thought however, gave her new stimulus for in¬ 
vestigation; silently she made a resolve not to be 
in any hurry to leave Miss Vaughn’s. 

Mrs. Hart interrupted her musings with an an¬ 
nouncement of her intended departure. 

“Indeed you aren’t going!” insisted Miss Vaughn, 
heartily. “You’re tired out—and need a rest. “Be¬ 
sides,” she added, with a twinkle in her eyes, “I kept 


MOTOR TRIP 


241 


your room ready for you. I expected something like 
this to happen 

‘What?'^ demanded Marjorie, in surprise. “You 
didn’t expect us to complete our trip, Miss 
Vaughn?” 

“I hardly thought it possible.” 

“Yes!” stormed Marjorie; “there is something 
against us—something too big for us to fight against 
alone!” 

Again she noted the uneasiness, the embarrass¬ 
ment of Miss Vaughn’s nephew—an attitude so un¬ 
characteristic of either of the young men as to arouse 
her suspicions afresh. 

“Have you seen Mr. McDaniel and Mr. Cryton 
since we left, Miss Vaughn?” she asked, with ap¬ 
parent carelessness. 

“No; but I know that they are in town. They 
telephoned last night to find out whether I had heard 
from your girls.” 

Marjorie closed her lips tightly; this piece of evi¬ 
dence cleared them from implication in the theft. 

“But Milton can telephone them and invite them 
to dinner if you wish,” continued Miss Vaughn, 
anxious to do anything to divert the girls’ minds 
from their misfortune. 

“Oh, do!” cried Marjorie, enthusiastically, but for 
a reason very different from the one Miss Vaughn 
believed. 


242 


THE GIEL SOOOTB^ 


Glad of the excuse to escape from the room and 
from the presence of the two girls whom he so 
thoroughly disliked, Milton Crowell withdrew to 
carry out Marjorie’s wish. A moment later the 
whole party separated. 

As soon as Marjorie and Lily were alone, the 
latter began again with her questions. 

“You’re on the war-path again, Marj!’" she ex¬ 
claimed. “What have you up your sleeve now ?” 

“Nothing definite, Lil,” replied Marjorie, smiling¬ 
ly. “But that Crowell boy acts queerly—and I mean 
to try to find out more, before I leave!” 

“Righto!” agreed Lily, throwing herself upon the 
bed, for she was exceedingly weary. “But what 
makes you so anxious to see McDaniel and Cryton?” 

“I don’t know myself,” returned her companion. 
“Let’s take a nap now, Lil; maybe something will be 
revealed to us in a dream!” 

When the girls returned to the porch at six o’clock, 
they found all three of the young men assembled. 
Marjorie greeted the new-comers coolly, taking care 
to question them cleverly as to their whereabouts 
since the scouts’ departure. But both Cryton and 
McDaniel told, without any hesitation, all they had 
been doing in San Francisco during the girls’ ab¬ 
sence. They, in turn, demanded all the details of the 
girls’ trip, which ended in such disaster. 


MOTOR TRIP 


243 


‘‘But where is Vaughn?” asked Cryton, turning to 
Milton, after the story was finished. 

The latter repeated his explanation in the same 
embarrassed manner. 

“He’ll be along directly,” he concluded, avoiding 
Marjorie’s eyes. 

“Maybe this is he now,” remarked McDaniel, 
catching sight of a car that was just about to enter 
the gate. 

“No,” replied Milton immediately; “that’s a tour¬ 
ing-car, and his is a racer.” 

At these words Marjorie’s heart took a wild leap. 
A touring car! Could it—was it possible that it 
could belong to the boys ? 

She did not have long to wait for her hope to be 
confirmed; a moment later the machine stopped in 
front of the steps, but, to her consternation, only 
her brother got out! 

“Jack!” cried Marjorie and Lily, both rushing 
down the steps at the same time. “Oh, where did 
you come from?” 

“Sis!” he exclaimed joyfully, but taking care to 
hold her at arms’ distance. “I’m too dirty to touch 
—have been driving day and night!” 

Almost beside herself with happiness, the girl led 
her brother up to the porch and presented him to 
Miss Vaughn. Then she introduced the others, re- 


244 


THE GIRL SCOUTS' 


calling the fact of his previous acquaintance with 
Cryton and McDaniel at Lima. 

‘‘This is lovely for Marjorie," beamed Miss 
Vaughn, glad to see the girl so happy again. “But 
tell us how you happened to come." 

“No," interrupted Marjorie, too impatient to 
wait; “tell us what happened to John!" 

“He’ll be along directly," replied Jack, with a 
twinkle in his eyes. Turning to Miss Vaughn, he 
added, “And your other nephew is with him." 

Marjorie only had time to notice that Milton 
Crowell’s face grew deathly white at this piece of 
information, and that Miss Vaughn’s took on a 
puzzled expression. Before anyone could ask any 
questions, another mud-spattered touring-car came 
up the drive. 

“It’s—it’s our own car!" cried Marjorie, jumping 
off the porch in her wild haste and excitement. 

“And Vaughn at the wheel!" gasped Lily in 
amazement. 

The car pulled up in front of the porch, behind 
the other, with Marjorie riding on the running- 
board. It seemed almost as if she wanted to hug her 
precious possession. 

Both girls had jumped immediately to the correct 
explanation of the robbery, but both waited for the 
boys to relate the facts. They did not even ask any 
more questions, but continued to watch John with 


MOTOR TRIP 


245- 


admiration as he accompanied Vaughn Crowell up 
the steps. 

“There is a great deal to be explained, Miss 
Vaughn,he began, after he had been duly pre¬ 
sented; “not only by us and your nephews, but—” he 
glanced significantly at Cryton and McDaniel—“but 
by these other two young men as well. So, if you 
will permit, I think the best thing to do would be 
to go inside, and get it over at once!” 

“Certainly,” murmured the puzzled Miss Vaughn, 
rising, and leading the way. 

When they were all seated again in the drawing-- 
room. Jack turned to Vaughn Crowell. 

“Suppose you tell your story first, Mr. Crowell,” 
he suggested. 

The young man acquiesced, sullenly. 

“As some of the girls no doubt expected,” he be¬ 
gan, “Milt and I got our car and followed them back 
to the east. But they never camped at night, and 
they never seemed to get far enough away from 
some other car to let us plan a delay.” 

“A delay?” interrupted his aunt, sharply. “You 
actually meant to prevent the girls from making 
their trip ?” 

“Yes—we did,” admitted the young man. 

“But why? Just for a joke?” 

“Yes, of course!” put in Milton, hastily, grasping 
at the suggestion. “We thought it would be fun to 


24S 


THE GIEL SCOUTS^ 


give them a scare in some way. They were so cock¬ 
sure of themselves—’’ 

‘Tardon me!” interrupted John, in a tone of dis¬ 
gust, ‘‘but there is not a word of truth in that state¬ 
ment. We caught your brother and forced a confes¬ 
sion from him, his alternative being that we would 
hand him over to the police for stealing the girls* 
car! So please allow him to go on with his story.** 

“But your motive?** persisted the old lady. 

“The money, of course !** John explained. 

“Well,** continued Vaughn, more sheepishly than 
ever, “we hit upon the plan of entering the garage 
where the scout car was stored, and watching our 
opportunity to take it. We had no difficulty in ac¬ 
complishing this.’* 

“But the garage was locked!** objected Marjorie; 
“and the bolt was found unbroken !** 

Crowell smiled grimly; even now he considered it 
a clever trick. 

“Milt drove into the garage in our car,** he ex¬ 
plained, “with me hidden in the space in the back 
where we carry tools and baggage. He parked the 
car there for an hour, and went away; meanwhile, 
I watched my chance, slipped out of our car, and 
stored myself away in yours. When Milt came back 
and drove off, the garage-man suspected nothing. I 
managed my get-away while the garage was locked, 
and the man at supper.** 


MOTOR TRIP 


247 


“But how did you bolt the door—from the out¬ 
side?’' inquired Lily. 

“Easy I I left the office dead-latch off, went back 
after the car was out, and let myself out through the 
office. Nobody was around, so I got away without 
suspicion.” 

“And we never discovered our loss until the next 
morning!” murmured Marjorie, regretfully. 

“No, because I left no clues. The garage-man 
found the garage as he left it; why should he sus¬ 
pect anything?” 

“And how were you caught?” flashed Marjorie. 

“You tell it, John,” suggested Jack, modestly. 

“There’s not much to tell,” replied John; “only 
that we recognized the girls’ car, and gave it a chase.” 

“And caught it!” added Marjorie, triumphantly. 

To everyone the story seemed almost incredible in 
its exposure of the Crowells’ villainy; but to Miss 
Vaughn each word was like a blow. Her face grew 
ashen, and her expression distorted. For some mo¬ 
ments she was so angry that she could not speak. 

Finally Jack broke the silence. 

“That isn’t half of it,” he said. “We succeeded 
in learning all you wanted explained about your trip 
out, Marj,” he added, turning to his sister. 

Marjorie’s eyes flashed expectantly; she glanced 
across the room at McDaniel and Cr)d;on, but found 
them looking fixedly at the floor. 


248 


THE GIKL SCOUTS' 


“Proceed V* commanded Jack again, to the culprit, 

“The whole thing started, as near as I can remem¬ 
ber, about two months ago,'’ said Vaughn, doggedly, 
“at a frat smoker. The fellows were all talking 
about a new frat house, and nobody could see any 
way of getting the money together. Then Milt and I 
hit on the plan of approaching Auntie on the sub¬ 
ject. And do you remember. Aunt Emeline, that 
you turned us down on the grounds that this scout 
trip would eat too heavily into your income?" 

“Yes, I recall the circumstance," nodded Miss 
Vaughn, with an effort. 

“Then Milt and I suggested that if the trip fell 
through, or the girls failed to earn their cars, that 
we should get the money. And you agreed." 

Again the old lady nodded, coldly. 

“So the idea must have come to one of us to make 
that trip fail, and we let McDaniel and Cryton into 
the scheme, got all our details from Auntie, and 
proceeded to do everything in our power to keep the 
girls from winning." 

“But we won in the end!" retorted Marjorie, de¬ 
fiantly. “At least, we would have, if you hadn’t 
lied!" 

“And just what was this plan of action?" asked 
Miss Vaughn, turning not to her nephews, but to 
McDaniel instead. 


MOTOR TRIP 


249 


‘‘What we wanted to do/' explained the latter, 
“was to delay the girls so they wouldn’t get here 
on time, or else in some way to trick them into ac¬ 
cepting assistance from us. In other words, we 
meant to accomplish our plan without doing any 
harm to the girls, if possible.” 

“That was kind of you,” remarked Lily, sarcas¬ 
tically. 

“So we scattered the tacks that made the punc¬ 
tures, obtained an invitation for ourselves from Tom 
Melville at Lima and put forth every effort to make 
ourselves so interesting that you girls would forget 
all about time and stay over.” 

“You tried to work that little stunt in Chicago, 
too, didn’t you?” asked Marjorie, shrewdly. “And 
when you sent us out on that muddy road, you 
weren’t surprised when we got stuck, were you?” 

“No,” answered Cryton; “the thing that surprised 
us was your persistence. Would you believe it. Miss 
Vaughn, these girls not only turned us down, but a 
farmer with horses as well! Just because he was a 
man!” 

“Then,” inquired the hostess, “it is true that the 
girls never accepted help from a man—^all the way 
out?” 

“It’s absolutely true!” cried McDaniel. “Those 
other two fellows were bribed to lie!” 

Miss Vaughn now looked utterly disgusted; in- 


250 


THE GIRL SCOUTS' 


deed, it seemed as if she hardly cared to hear the re¬ 
mainder of the story. Nevertheless, McDaniel con¬ 
tinued. 

‘‘Let's see," he mused; “what was it we did next?" 

“Stole our food, wasn't it?" prompted Marjorie. 
“So we had to lose all that time getting more! And 
then made up a story about being at a smoker that 
evening 1" 

“Yes, I guess that was our next offense," admitted 
the young man. 

“And stole our uniforms at Salt Lake City—and 
later Lily's carl" 

“Yes, yes—we're guilty!" 

“But how about the robbery ?" asked Lily. “Sure¬ 
ly you didn't disguise yourselves as bandits, and hold 
us up for our money and jewelry?" 

“Yes, even that!" 

“What did you do with the money?" asked Miss 
Vaughn, with a sudden return of interest. 

“It’s all here in an envelope,” replied McDaniel, 
reaching in his pocket and handing it to Marjorie. 
“Will you see that it gets back to its owners?” 

“And where is my car?” demanded Lily, sharply. 

“Stored in a friend’s garage, along the road. I’ll 
ship that east to you soon. And your uniforms have 
already gone parcel-post to Daisy's house.*' 

“One more thing," persisted Marjorie; “did you 


MOTOR TRIP 


251 


have anything to do with that woman and child 
whom we took back across the desert?'' 

“Yes, to that too," replied McDaniel. “We bribed 
her, so that she would beg you to take her. If she 
got you half way, she was to receive fifty dollars; 
if she succeeded in making you take her all the way 
across, she was to get a hundred." 

“And she succeeded all right," concluded Mar¬ 
jorie. “For I saw her get her money." 

Miss Vaughn rose suddenly; she had listened to 
enough. 

“Stop!" she commanded. “I am simply astounded 
at your audacity—all four of you boys. I am worse 
than ashamed of you! Needless to say, I do not 
wish you to remain to dinner. In fact," she con¬ 
cluded, addressing her nephews, “you may pack 
your things and go over to your club. Don't come 
back until I send for you!" 

Then, changing her tone, she issued a cordial in¬ 
vitation to Jack and John to remain. 

“Tell me one thing before you go to your rooms," 
she said: “how did you two young men happen to 
come from the east to track my nephews and their 
friends ?" 

“Marjorie sent for us!" replied John Hadley, 
proudly. “She suspected something—and wanted 
proof!" 

“Good! Splendid!" exclaimed Miss Vaughn; and 


252 


THE GIKL SCOUTS’ 


after all the young men had withdrawn, she seemed 
quite herself again as she chatted cheerfully with 
the girls until the summons to dinner. 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

CONCLUSION. 

The dinner party that evening was the most 
pleasant occasion of both of the scouts’ visits at Miss 
Vaughn’s home; now all the disturbing elements, all 
the distasteful companions, were removed; the girls 
felt at last that they were among friends. The boys’ 
aunt seemed to forget her own nephews and their 
disgraceful deeds and entered whole-heartedly into 
the joy of the event. Jack’s and John’s heroism had 
restored the good name of Pansy Troop; once more 
the scouts, freed from suspicion of dishonor, had 
been able to establish the truth. 

^‘Aren’t you glad that you accepted Miss Vaughn’s 
invitation to stay?” asked Marjorie of Mrs. Hart, 
when the little party of six were seated at the table. 

‘Tndeed I am!” replied the older woman, admir¬ 
ingly, for Marjorie was radiant with her triumph. 
“But you mustn’t forget that I believed in you girls 
all along!” 



HOTOR TRIP 


253 


“And you would have believed in our boys, too, if 
you had known themreturned the girl, proudly. 

“Marj,” interrupted Jack, anxious to turn the 
topic away from himself and John, and their part in 
the adventure, “let's try to wire the train the girls 
are on, and break the good news to them!" 

“Great!" exclaimed his sister, forgetting to cat in 
her excitement. 

“But wait and eat your dinner first," advised Miss 
Vaughn, smilingly. 

“And tell them to go to Lima," put in Lily. 

“And telegraph Mae, too!" added Marjorie. 

“May we go with you, to join in the rejoicing?" 
asked John, humbly. “Our vacations aren't over till 
Sunday a week." 

“I should say you may!" cried both girls at once. 

“I wish I could go with you," mused Miss 
Vaughn, “and have the satisfaction of seeing Daisy's 
face when she learns that her innocence is proved!" 

“Why not go?'’ demanded Marjorie, rapturously. 
“Oh, Miss Vaughn, it will be wonderful!" 

“And you, too, Mrs. Hart!" begged Lily. “So 
that Miss Vaughn will have a companion on the way 
back!" 

Their hotess listened to the girl's entreaties with a 
pleasant sensation of anticipation; after all, why 
should she not go? It would afford her a new in¬ 
terest in life at a time when she sadly needed one 


254 


THE GIRL SCOUTS^ 


after the disgrace of her nephews^ conduct. More¬ 
over, such aitrip would show the young men that she 
meant what she said; that before she would take 
them back they must prove themselves sincere in a 
genuine reform. 

believe that I will go,’’ she announced; ‘‘at 
least, if Mrs. Hart will accompany me.” 

“Yes, I’d like to,” answered the other; “as long as 
we’re going by train. Besides, you girls ought to 
have a chaperone, since Mrs. Remington has gone 
home.” 

“Oh, we mustn’t forget to wire her—^and Alice!” 
cried Marjorie. “Now our party will be complete.” 

While Jack went to the telegraph office to send off 
his messages to the others, Miss Vaughn made the 
arrangements with the railroad to secure a private 
car for the party on one of the best trains to the east. 
Mrs. Hart retired early, and Majorie and Lily and 
John were left alone, to go over and over each detail 
of the perilous journey and the boys’ thrilling rescue. 

Nor was their enjoyment limited to one evening; 
for, so congenial was the party and so luxurious the 
accommodations, that every minute of the trip 
seemed wonderful. John admitted at the end that it 
■was the happiest occasion of his life, and Marjorie 
looked scarcely less pleased. Indeed, it seemed to 
more than one member of the party that their ar¬ 
rival at Lima came all too soon. 


MOTOR TRIP 


255 


They found all of the original members already at 
Mae’s, and, while Mrs. Hart and Miss Vaughn were 
resting at their hotel, Marjorie and Lily, assisted by 
Jack and John, answered all the questions that were 
thrust at them in rapid succession. 

The dinner was planned for seven o’clock; but 
Miss Vaughn and Mrs. Hart were late. When they 
finally came, the former blamed her delay upon an 
envelope of papers which she held in her hand. 

‘‘Your checks, girls!” she announced, smilingly. 
“With my apologies for my former mistrust.” 

She began to hand them around to the scouts, 
evidently taking great delight in having them ac¬ 
cepted so joyfully. 

“And if you will accept it,” she said, turning to 
Mrs. Remington, ‘T have one here for you!” 

“Thank you!” replied the captain, graciously. “I 
shall be delighted.” 

The ceremony was apparently over; yet Miss 
Vaughn still held one check in her hand. The girls 
waited, expectantly; something else was undoubtedly 
to come. 

“I can’t make a speech, girls,” she said, “to tell 
you of my immense admiration for you, your cap¬ 
tain, and your lieutenant—and your loyal friends; 
so I want to express it in another way. I have here, 
in the name of Pansy Troop, a check for the Girl 


256 


THE GIEL SCOUTS’ 


Scout organization. Will Mrs. Remington please 
take charge of it?” 

Trembling, the captain crossed the room and held 
out her hand. No one voiced the question; yet it 
seemed as if the air were filled with inquiry regard¬ 
ing the amount, so dear to the heart of every scout 
was the organization itself. For one second she 
hesitated; but a glance at Miss Vaughn assured her 
of her approval. 

‘TEN THOUSAND DOLLLARS TO THE 
CAMP FUND,” she read; “as a tribute to the 
bravery and integrity of Pansy Troop!” 

The End. 


•» T 





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